Pokemon OnLine
by CrmsnLupine
Summary: Welcome to the world of PokemonOnLine, a virtual world made for your entertainment. New users please remember to register, and also remember, nothing can really hurt you here. Don't be afraid, come and try...what could go wrong?
1. Registration

Author: Obligatory, Author's note. First fic up, in a long...long...while. Haven't really written anything in over a few years but you know how that go-

Janus: Get to the damn story already, the readers don't come to be bored.

Author: Oh shut it, and get on stage, yer up in ten...

Janus:blows him a raspberry

Author: Anyways, if this gets boring…um…you don't have to read it ; it's just an explanation to everything within this universe I've created. Just imagine the speaking voice of the narrator as one of those old "50'ish style World-of-Tomorrow-voices" male voice, as my girlfriend so eloquently put it. Then it seems kinda funny.

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Welcome, to the Pokémon OnLine universe, we thank you for buying our product, please remember to take the time to register your product with technical support. It's fast and easy to register your new copy of Pokémon OnLine with Game Freak Productions. Just send it in via modem, FAX, or mail to start receiving the great customer benefits. 1) Take advantage of exclusive direct offers! 2) Receive our catalogs and announcements of new game releases! 3) You'll be entered in our monthly "New Customer" contest for free games and other cool stuff! Don't hesitate – click the "Register Now" button below.

Thank you for registering your new version of Pokémon OnLine, we hope you enjoy your gaming experiences...

**Newbie's Walkthrough**

Welcome new user to the Pokémon OnLine Universe, the new generation in Pokémon gaming. In the world which you are about to enter, you will embark on a grand adventure with you as the hero. Speak to people and check things wherever you go, be it towns, roads, or caves. Gather information and hints from every source.

New paths will open to you by helping people in need, overcoming challenges, and solving mysteries. At time, you will be challenged by others and attacked by wild creatures. Be brave and keep pushing on. Through your adventure, we hope that you will interact with all sorts of people and achieve personal growth. That is our biggest objective.

It is important for new players to know the rules implemented in POL. Hacking your character in any way, shape, or form, shall result in your immediate deletion, and a banning of your IP address. Hacking **WILL** **NOT** be tolerated.

Always remember courtesy, you are not the only player in the world of POL. Always show respect to your administrators and moderators of you're server, they're there to help you. Regular level members will not be permitted access into staff-only areas.

Remember to register yourself as an Official Pokémon Battler; you will not be able to battle other trainers without registering first. This prevents the different "classes" (i.e. Breeders, Watchers, etc. ) from being drawn into battles they want no part in.

A new feature added recently is the Gym Trainee Program, or otherwise called the GTP. You may join a Gym and train under the Gym Leader (GL) of that gym and be allowed to take over their position for them. Note: this is a highly esteemed position, and should an admin or mod see you as unfit to be a Gym Leader, your badges shall be revoked and your powers as a GL revoked. You may **NOT** withhold badges from players if they win, nobody likes a sore loser.

The rules of joining Gyms vary; please consult their rule books when you join for further information.

Trainers are allowed to have one Pokémon out as a traveling companion, but only one at a time, unless you are involved in a double battle or training your team solo. In which case, please look at the **Battles** section of your manual for more help.

Due to the nature of POL, a level cap has been put on the Pokémon, should they exceed a certain level, and they have been found to rebel against their trainers due to the emotions chip within them. In POL, the Pokémon are as close to living, breathing beings as you or I in this virtual world, they are more then just your standard AI thanks to the latest advances in technology. Also, a power cap has been put on Psychic Pokémon to protect you, the trainer, from suffering lasting damage in the real world. Please ask the admin of our servers for more information on this.

Because of their adverse powers and rarity, all legendaries have been removed from the game. That is all.

The world of POL is comprised of four main regions and several islands branching off of them, these continents include the original three (Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn) and a new region, specifically made for POL. These regions are all based under a different server. Enjoy exploring this new land, and learning its secrets.

Also, remember that the Neuro-antenna is not a toy; it connects your brain to the game and enhances your experiences to make them as realistic as possible, remember to be careful, as pain is transferred from the game to your body.

We close with saying that all harm caused from this game, is in no way the responsibility of Game Freak, Creatures Inc. or Nintendo. Thank you for reading the Beginners Walkthrough, have a fun and safe gaming experience.


	2. Ch 1: Just a Minor Problem

Author: Okay, so yeah, now that your boring tutorial is over, come into the world of Pokémon reborn as a virtual paradise. Just try not to lose your mind, it's quite...easy :smirks: As a side note, I got my respective idea for this after too much .Hack and Pokemon. Just be warned. Also Pokemon is copyright Nintendo, \.hack is copyright...:blinks:I forget...but I don't own them ;;

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**Chapter 1: Just a Minor Problem**

The young boy sighed heavily, closing his door behind him and letting his backpack slump to the floor next to him. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and his dark brown hair was quickly righted back into place as he walked further into his room.

"Ah, sanctuary..." He said falling prostrate onto his bed, enjoying the cool feeling of his sheets, "I hate this weather."

He paused for a moment, his deep brown eyes drawn over to the computer resting in the corner of his room. He smirked and sat up straight, moving over to it and sitting down, placing a small antenna like object to his temple, then slipped on a pair of goggles over his eyes and a pair of form fitting black gloves with teal lines running along them.

"Just what I needed after a long day," He said to no one in particular, as he started typing in his username "Janus". To the outside world, when he hit the enter button, his body jolted and then relaxed. In his mind though the shock brought on a refreshing feeling as his mind entered a new world.

The sights. The smells. Filling his senses as he looked around, a smile creeping along his face. His surroundings were a deep forest, though he knew the name of it, Viridian Forest, his last resting spot. He smirked lightly, reaching for his belt and tossing up a red and white ball that opened and released a bright flash of light.

"Hey Blaze, how about some fresh air?" He smiled lightly at the reply roar from the reddish orange dragon, "My sentiments exactly."

He smirked lightly as he pulled out a map and opened, looking over the area, "Right, we'll take this road up to Pewter City and continue our challenge, just a few more battles to go Blaze," He looked up to the dragon and smiled happily, as it gave an affirming grunt and nuzzled him affectionately, although it also effectively knocked him to the ground.

"Whoa Blaze, watch it boy," He said to the dragon with a light chuckle. He started down road, stretching languidly, as they walked, the dragon following closely next to him. It wasn't long before a buzzing in his pocket made him stop, and he withdrew the PokéNav.

"Hunh?" He blinked at the message on his device for a moment, "Let's go Blaze, something's up, and the Admin's about to tell us, man I hope it's a new update coming along, we could do with something new, don't you think?"

The Charizard nodded, with a deep grunt, causing a chuckle to rise from the boy. The walk to Pewter City didn't take long, and by the time they'd reached the city, their was already a large crowd growing in the center of the town, a man on a podium nodding slightly to someone next to him.

"Hey Blaze, gimme a lift, I can't see above this crowd," Janus said, the dragon let out a soft grunt and bent enough for the boy to climb onto his neck and see over the crowd. At that moment, the man tapped his microphone, the feedback, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Alright...everyone...settle down please, we have an important announcement!" The man started, "Earlier today, an error occurred in the Imayou region, and though rumors may be flying about that there was an explosion on the continent. This accusation is false, and those spreading these wild rumors have been dealt with accordingly, but as such, the area in question is being fixed as we speak, as such Plushtra Town is now off limits to all players till further notice, we apologize to you for this inconvenience...thank you..."

He blinked and watched curiously as the man left the podium, the crowd around him becoming slightly unnerved and boisterous, pushing and shoving as they began to rebel, shouting insults towards the administration.

Janus just paused and blinked. Letting out a curious noise, he took out his map, examining the different areas of the world.

"Hmm...but, the starters Gym for that area is there...," He said scratching his head in slight confusion, "Blaze, it's not like the admin to do this...we're going to go pay Imayou a visit, and find out ourselves what happened."

The dragon nodded in affirmation, as the boy climbed off his shoulders onto the ground, starting to run out of town, and get out of the crowd of angry trainers.

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Author: Yeah they're short, but just for now. They'll get better, I promise.:grins: Tune in next time, for as we delve in deeper into the problems that come up when Janus goes to Imayou, and makes a disturbing discovery.


	3. Ch 2: Stuff of Legends

Author: Welcome back to the next exciting installment of Pokemon OnLine. And yes, this one is exciting...and bigger too :grins: clocking in at 6 pages, yay! Anyways, on with the broadcast, oh, and have you registered yet?

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**Chapter 2: Stuff of Legends**

One couldn't fly between the regions; of course you couldn't, the distance of flight would put your Pokémon through major stress and fatigue. So warp stations were set up between the regions via the ports. One such port lies ahead in Vermillion. A quick flight brought Janus there in no time at all, and it appeared he wasn't the only one to try this as the wharf was packed with trainers. He did manage to overhear people talking though, which was one perk.

"Man, you I heard this rumor, apparently some battle went down between the hacker guilds, a lot of characters were deleted." A girl was saying to her friends.

"What? Seriously?"

"Yeah, really weird thing though is that not even the admin is 100 sure of what went on..."

"Feh, hackers, the POL would be better without them."

"Hey get moving we're up next."

"Finally." That was that, they moved on, Janus staring after them as they entered the warp point.

"C'mon Blaze, Pokémon aren't allowed on the warp boats." He said returning the dragon to his ball, stepping after the group that'd just left.

"This ship's outbound for Imayou," Someone shouted above the din of the crowd, nearly getting himself trampled by the onslaught of players boarding. Janus managed to get a good spot at the edge of the boat. His eyes scanned the horizon and stopped short at something breaching the water in the distance. Before he could get a better look however, the ship jolted and started off towards it's destination, Imayou.

_What was that?_ He speculated to himself _Looked almost like...no...that's impossible. It was probably just some seaweed on a Wailords back or something._

The boat started moving faster, pushing through the water and going over the swells, any who were easily motion sick were up top bending over the railing. Talk about realistic. Somewhere behind him a voice called out to him, seemingly from nowhere.

"Janus!" the voice caused him to blink and he turned around to look with a blink, "Shoulda known you'd be going to check this out too."

Behind Janus was a teenager who went by the name of Jet. Janus chuckled lightly at Jet's vibrant blue hair, as it was still in place, even with all the wind blowing around him.

"Hey Jet, long time no see, I thought you were in the Hoenn region?" Janus said, turning and leaning with his back against the railing to look at the other.

"Yeah, but hearing news like that, who wouldn't rush into the Imayou region."

"That's true, what've you heard about this?"

"This 'n that...not much, the story changes too much, plus the admin is working overtime trying to keep it under wraps, personally, I think it's a new event." Jet said excitedly, "And that's why they've closed off the area, you get what I'm saying?"

"That's a distinct possibility..."

"Hey dude, when you sneak past them, can ya call me and tell me what you find?"

"Su-HEY! Who said I was going to sneak past the admin?" Janus gave him a glare.

"C'mon Janus, this is you we're talking about, when you get one of your hair brained ideas, you go all out...remember back in Johto?"

Janus paused and chuckled lightly, smirking at Jet.

"Will you ever drop that?"

"Don't ever plan to," Jet chuckled and smirked at him. The two began talking about their recent adventures and journeys to become the champions for a day. It wasn't long before they became rivals for a moment, and an argument broke out between them, about who was better, effectively drawing the attention of everyone around them.

"Please, Jet, you know I could wipe the floor with you any time," Janus said, waving a hand dismissively.

"Yeah right, when a Mankey flies out of my butt, maybe." Jet said with a scoff.

"Oh yeah, well how about we test your theory?"

"Yer on," Jet smirked and moved to the opposite side of the deck, a crowd forming a circle around them, chattering and whispering excitedly.

"Three Pokémon each," He Janus stated, already choosing his first

"Wouldn't have it any other way..." Jet picked a ball off his waist smirking lightly.

"Go, Blaze!"

"Teach him a lesson, Craig!"

The Charizard, glared down heavily at the Gravelar, a growl reverberating in his throat.

"Blaze, use Mega Punch!"

"Craig, Dig under him!"

As Blaze drew back his claw, he lunged forwards, but missed when Craig broke through the floor boards of the ship, digging under Blaze, but the dragon was fast and managed to fly above.

"Blaze, use Mega Kick!" Blaze did a small flip in the air and flew down, foot first, as Craig broke through the boards, scoring a wicked hit on the giant rock.

"Craig!" Jet glared daggers across the way at Janus, "Craig, return!" The bruised rock was absorbed in a red flash of light and withdrawn into his pokéball. As Jet withdrew another a voice screamed from behind the crowd.

"That's enough!" A man in a white suit and cap broke through the crowd, glaring at the two players, "There is no fighting on this ship, have you two already forgotten the rules?"

Janus and Jet stood up straight, and shook their heads.

"Sorry sir," Jet gulped.

"I'm going to let it slide this time...but don't allow it to happen again," The captain looked at the crowd, "Nothing to see here, break it up!"

The crowd dispersed with a displeasured noise, Janus recalling Blaze into his pokéball before walking over, smirking at Jet.

"We'll finish this later Jet..." Janus stated. Jet rolled his eyes and smirked.

"You woulda lost anyways..."

"Is that so?"

"You bet it is." They stared each other down, before having a good laugh, and shaking hands, enjoying the rest of the journey chatting about old times.

The ship pulled into dock soon afterwards, and they departed, each taking separate routes, vowing to one day finish the battle and see who was better. Jet walked off, Janus on the other hand...

"Esper! Come on out." He smiled at the small greeting pounce he received from the Espeon, as it nuzzled under his chin, smiling happily.

"Glad to see you too girl, listen, I need your help with something," he said, smiling, the fox like creature in his arms blinked at him curiously, then smiled and nodded, hopping out of his arms and giving an affirmative before he could even ask.

"Hey, what'd I tell you about reading my mind," He smirked playfully at her and scratched behind her ears lightly, an apologetic "Esp" was his reply.

"No matter, you know my plan...we can't fly in, but I doubt they'd be able to block a teleportation." Espeon gave a small questioning noise, causing him to blink.

"Yeah...I know what it's originally used for but...it's the only thing I can think of..." He looked up in thought, "Just teleport me to the barricade if you could girl." She nodded and smiled before moving closer to him, her eyes glowing brightly for a minute, before they just...vanished. A moment later they were standing near a crowd of trainers, all shouting and jeering at the admin for their lack of information.

"Heh, good work girl," He bent over and scratched her head softly then walked towards the crowd. Spying Jet among the accusers he grinned.

"Jet!" He called out, the blue haired boy blinked and smiled.

"Oi, Janus, we meet again," He chuckled lightly.

"They let anyone through yet?"

"Yeah, some guy, don't know who though, he was weird looking, looked like a high ranking Admin though, makes you antsy to know what's going on, don't it?"

"Yeah definitely, any luck getting through?"

"Some people managed to break pass the guards, but they don't make it too far, the admin catch them before they can make a clean get away...and they have Flygons and Dragonites in the sky on patrol, stopping anyone from making it through flight."

"Yeah I figured that much..." He sighed and looked around.

"Yeah, it's been hell getting through."

"Hey Jet, think you can help me create a distraction?" He smirked lightly. Jet just gave him an incredulous look.

"Are you nuts?" Jet looked around and took him aside, "If one of us were caught attacking the admin..."

"Then don't get caught..." Janus ran off.

"Janus…Janus!" Jet sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, before stamping his foot, "I must be crazy...you owe me for this Janus."

Janus stood off to the side stroking Esper, "Think you got enough in ya for another teleport girl?" He got a nod in reply, "That's my girl, just a short jump this time, behind them."

Jet moved into the center of the crowd, "accidentally" bumping into someone enough to snag a pokéball at his waist and let it drop, opening to reveal a small Oddish, that looked around curiously.

"Oddish use sleep powder n-," before he could finish though a gust of wind kicked up the sand and clouded the whole area, followed by several SmokeBombs in the area after it. Oddish thinking an attack was going on, proceeded to use her Sleeping powder on the whole area. Janus meanwhile had teleported into the cloud of smoke and grabbed Esper by the scruff of her neck, pulling her into his arms as he ran for Plushkin, smirking over his shoulder.

"Jet sure knows what he's doing, Esper..." A small agreeing noise rose from his arms as he ran. Jet, meanwhile, had returned Oddish to her ball, and was blinking at the amount of chaos that ensued after the attacks.

It wasn't long before Janus reached the city, or what was left of the city, blinking in surprise.

"Holy...wh-what happened here?" His eyes stared on in shock and surprise as he walked through the street cracked streets, "It's...as if a bomb went off."

As if on cue, a bright purple flash, lighted up somewhere up ahead, causing the small fox pokémon to let out a sound of discomfort.

"Esper?" it wasn't long before he felt a spike of pain in his head, a low throb making him stagger back a bit, "W-whoa...head rush." He blinked at another flash up ahead, the pain spiking, as Esper let out a pained cry.

"Esper, return," the pokémon was instantly engulfed in a red light and sucked back into her ball. Janus proceeding afterwards, ignoring the headache he was experiencing, passing it off as dehydration. Moments later he started to hear the sounds of battle, as he crept up and over the rubble.

He paused and stared at the ongoing struggle between a man and his pokémon, and another that was sending psychic attacks towards the man and his dark types that he continuously sent out.

"N-no way," Janus stated, as he crouched low, his eyes wide with horror. What he saw before him was impossible, as the Legendaries were banned, hell, they weren't even created, or so he had heard. Not only that, but for MewTwo to be here, the level cap would have had to of been removed from the server, another impossibility, but his eyes didn't lie.

"Mightyena GO!" The man, obviously an admin, threw out a another ball, the Mightyena popping out and growling at the floating MewTwo, "Mightyena, Bite attack, go!"

The Mightyena let out a roar and charged, then found itself flying back, as a beam of psychic energy slammed into it, sending it and the ground around them flying back.

"Mightyena!" The cry was in vain though, the creature, obviously going faint, before he returned it, "Fine, we-we'll do this the hard way!"

The MewTwo watched him, glowing eyes, narrowing to slits, as the man held out an arm that began to glow.

"MasterBall Program, activate," He glared at the MewTwo, then reared back his arm, as he tossed it forwards, a bolt of green light swerved a path towards MewTwo. The creature merely brought up a shield of light, that caused the green bolt to shatter and break apart when it struck.

"Pokéballs, feh, they are nothing more then a mere annoyance...human," the voice echoed around the area, obviously coming from MewTwo, who just sneered in disgust, "I grow tired of our game."

Janus' attention was drawn to a girl not too far away from him, who was watching the attack, a lot closer then he was, though his attention was drawn back to the floating monster above them. MewTwo, had drawn himself into a tight ball, his body glowing ominously.

"Oh fuck!" He stood up and shouted at the girl, "Get out of here NOW!"

Although it had already been too late, MewTwo let out a loud feral noise, a huge explosion of psychic energy striking the admin, deleting him quite painfully, and forcing his body to explode out wards, the backlash of the attack washing over the two trainers in a wave of pain, decimating their minds. Darkness claiming their vision a moment later.

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Author: HAHAH! Told you it'd get better and longer :smirks: and to top it all off, I left it on a cliffhanger of sorts :cackles: Tune in next time to find out what happens next.


	4. Ch 3: DoLittle

Author: You know, you're lucky, I was going to be a little sadistic and make ya'll wait a week...but since I'm such a nice guysniggersHere's Chapter 3.

Janus: Feh yeah right, he's as nice as they come.

Author: I am not!

Janus: He sleeps with plushies...

Adam: There's a reason for that...honest.

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**Chapter 3: Do-Little**

_Voices...so many voices, screaming...yelling...too many! AHHHHHHHH!_

There was a shrill scream, and it took her a moment to realize she was making it. She cringed away, hands over her ears, screaming still, telling the voices to be quiet, to stop. Through the darkness, she could hear them, two more voices, new voices, that blocked out the others speaking softly...gently...

"_Are they alright?_"

"_They should be._"

"_How did they survive?_"

"_I don't know..._"

"_You don't think..._"

"_Possibly...but there's no way to tell._"

Who were they talking about, why...was it her? Who were "they"? Who were the voices? Was she hurt?

_Who are you?_

"_...No one...rest now, everything will be alright..._"

_Was I hurt?_

"_Yes, but you'll be alright now...rest..._"

_Why are you helping me?_

Silence, then a bright light, in the distance, it came closer, and engulfed her.

She was the first to wake up; her head buzzing still, like her brain had been turned inside out. She couldn't remember what had happened, she remembered the voices though, and nothing else before that.

She slowly pushed herself off the ground, a spike of pain tearing through her body, causing her to flinch.

"Owww..." She shook her head a few times and looked around with a number of blinks. A groan off to her side quickly caught her attention. A boy, she remembered him, vaguely, and remembering brought another spike of pain through her head.

Janus, meanwhile, was feeling the aftershock of pain run through his mind. How long had he been out.

"Wha-Ow..." He winced again, and rubbed his temples. He got up and looked around, a vague recollection of being here when he last passed out. _Wha__-what happened?_ He paused and blinked _The__ girl!_ His head snapped around and he saw the other, on her knees and shaking her head in distant confusion.

"Hey...y-you alright?" He said as he made his way over to the girl.

"Y-yeah...I think so..." she replied, rubbing her head in pain and wincing a bit as she stood up, "Do you have any idea of what just happened?... The last thing I remember...I don't know, it's all kind of a blur, and then...nothing..." _and then voices..._She finished the sentence mentally.

"I think..." He stopped, drawing a blank from his memory, shaking his head and rubbing it lightly, "I don't know...I just remember my head feeling like it was about to pop..."

He looked around curiously, some what worriedly.

"What's wrong?" She asked giving him a curious look.

"Um...shouldn't...we have been transported to the nearest pokémon center?" He asked scratching his head and looking around.

"Yeah...why weren't we?" She sighed heavily and rubbed her temples, "This doesn't make any sense..."

"Ugh...and why...what's with the headache, I'm going to go take an advil...then sleep some," He said with a sigh, shaking his head. She looked at him and nodded. He activated the log out function, a light surrounding his body as he looked up, his eyes closed. Then a searing pain wrenched through his body, and the light vanished, leaving him staring around in confusion.

"Wh-what?" he looked somewhat panicked. The girl stopped and looked at him curiously.

"What happened...weren't you..." She slowly trailed off, then gasped softly, "It didn't work?"

"Yeah...m-maybe I just...I just didn't do it right?..." He said relaxing a little, looking up again as the same light surrounded him. He closed his eyes, but the same thing happened to him again, frying him slightly, causing a few gasps to escape from him. When the light faded he looked around in a mad panic.

"W-why can't I log out?" He asked looking around frantically. The girl gulped faintly, then took a step forwards.

"N-now don't panic! That won't make it any...any easier," She looked around hurriedly, trying to think of something to say before turning back to look at him, "We just need to find an admin or something, i-it's probably nothing more then a glitch in the system..."

Janus paused, gulping a bit before nodding, breathing a little slower and calming down.

"Yeah...y-yeah...you're right...the admin...they'll know what to do..." He nodded somewhat mindlessly, forcing himself to believe the words, though somewhere, he knew they couldn't help him. He looked down and sighed heavily, before blinking a few times, his attire, seeming to have magically become revamped.

"What...the heck?" He blinked looking over the trench coat he was wearing, looking it over and drawing a few glances and looks from the girl.

"Something missing?" She asked quirking an eyebrow.

"Yeah...my old color scheme," He blinked and sighed rubbing his temples, "I don't have time to look into this, c'mon...let's...find the admin, they can tell us what's wrong..."

She nodded and started reaching for her belt, before letting out a small gasp, drawing Janus attention immediately.

"My Pokémon! I hope they're alright!" She pulled out one of the balls and tossed it. Janus blinked and mirrored her actions, pulling up his own pokéball and tossing it.

"Esper, are you alright?" He said kneeling down and looking over the wincing Pokémon.

"Flygon are you alright?" She asked worriedly as the beast shook it's head clear and looked at her.

(Yeah...my head hurts though.) It replied. Her eyes widened.

"Wh-what did you say?" She asked blinking back her surprise. Janus looked over at her curiously, pausing in mid scratch.

"He said...um..." with that Janus did his best impression of the noise Flygon made, Flygon blinking at him before giving his owner a curious look, "or something...why?"

"B-because I heard it...in English..." A little pale, she turned to him, and pointed at his Espeon with a shaky finger, "Y-you, say something."

Janus blinked a few times and looked curiously at the fox, who returned the look in kind.

(What does she want me to say?) She asked her owner. The girl groaned.

"Oh god, I can understand it," She covered her eyes.

(Really?) Flygon asked her, giving her a curious look.

"Yes..." She replied with a nod and a sigh, then she paused, when whom she answered clicked in her mind, and groaned.

"Hey you okay..." He paused and blinked a few times, "Just...what is your name...anyways?"

"Cassie...and I think I've officially gone insane..." She replied, shaking her head.

"I'm Janus," He said with a smile

"Nice to meet you Janus..." She sighed a little and looked around uneasily.

(You don't look so good...maybe we should go to the city.) Flygon gave her a worried look.

"We were heading to the city anyways so let's just...go," She started moving forwards, Flygon beside her, following obediently, Janus falling in step behind her, Esper in his arms. When they reached the edge of the city, Flygon paused and looked ahead of them.

"What's up Flygon?" Cassie asked, pausing to look at him.

(I hear something...)

"You hear something? What was it?" She tilted her head curiously.

"No, I didn't hear any-..." Janus blinked and rolled his eyes slightly, chuckling to himself. His gaze lowered to Esper when she let out a small sound looking off in the same direction as Flygon.

(Something's coming...) She announced.

"I don't like th-" She started but a cry from Flygon stopped her short.

(Look!) The call made her look down the road with a gasp.

"A Fearow! But it's..." She paused and squinted to get a better look, "It's chasing something..."

Sure enough the Fearow was snapping at something in front of it. The Fearow let out a squalling sound, and snapped its beak down, barely missing the Vaporeon-sized Pokémon it was after, although the slightly scuffed up pup was far from being anything in the Eevee line.

Janus blinked a few times and glared at the Fearow, letting Esper onto the ground.

"Esper, go teach that Fearow to pick on something its own size..." He said, she nodded to him and bounded off towards the bird.

"Help her out, Flygon!" Cassie shouted.

(Got it!) He shouted as he charged off towards the bird.

"Esper, use Psybeam!" Esper's eyes' began to glow, and the air rippled as a beam shot from her forehead towards the bird.

"Flygon, use Dragon Breath!" Flygon nodded and let loose a spout of green flames at the bird, singing it while the psychic attack stunned it. It let out a pained cry at the attacks. Flapping its wings weakly, it turned and flew off for the sky, squawking at them over its shoulder sending the bird fleeing for the skies.

"Wow...I didn't even know Pokémon knew those kinda words." Cassie remarked as she blinked after the bird, her attention switched back to the Pokémon it'd been chasing, and she let out a little gasp as she ran for it.

(It's alright little one, we won't hurt you...) Esper was saying softly to the smaller creature as it backed away from her, nearly toppling over as it did so.

"Hey...that's a new Pokémon...I don't think I've ever seen it before..." Janus remarked kneeling down besides Esper.

"Yeah, I've never seen it before either... It looks like Suicune, and yet...not," Cassie said, coming up next to him, Flygon swooping down and landing behind her. For a moment the small battered Pokémon, blinked at them, its ears twitching ones, before fatigue caught up with it, and it fell forwards, promptly passing out.

"Poor thing..." Cassie said with a soft sigh, bending down and picking up the poor thing with a sigh, "Fearow really did a number on it...we should probably fly rather then walk to the nearest PokéCenter."

Janus nodded then blinked looking down at Espeon.

"Why don't you Teleport there with Espeon, and I'll fly there..." Janus said with a smile.

"But how?" She asked curiously.

"I'll use my Charizard, Blaze, and I'll meet you there ASAP." He replied with a small smile. She nodded, reaching for her belt she returned Flygon, before walking over to Espeon.

"I guess I'll meet you in town then?" She asked him. Janus nodded and smiled tossing out another Pokéball, releasing the large red dragon.

"Take them to the nearest Center, Esper," He said as he hopped onto Blaze back, the two waving before they took off. A moment later, Esper, Cassie and the smaller Pokémon were whisked away in a flash of light. From the shadows of the underbrush along the road, two silent figures watched them, turning to look at each other, nodding and vanishing in their own small flash of light.

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Author: There we go, two mysterious figures:chuckles:Lookit me, I'm cliché!

Cassie: You certainly are.

Author: Silence! Anyways...more of the story unfolds, is it just a glitch? And who are the mysterious benefactors who "saved" these two...what happened to the admin and MewTwo? Find out more on the next exciting chapter of POL coming to a weekend near you!


	5. Ch 4: Breaking the Rules

Author: Hello again, heh, I said the weekend, right, I know that's what I promised...however, when you see my latest project...I think you'll all forgo the lynching, and the mobbing, and the looting of my wallet...so come check out http/ cause I said so

Like always, the subject matter of this fic is copyrighted material of Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and/or Game Freak...I could never figure out who really owned it ;; the \.hack stuff is copyright the owners of .hack whom still elude my memory.

Oh and one final note, all transitions between scenes shall hence forth be parted by these dotted lines...cause I like dotted lines

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**Chapter 4: Breaking the Rules**

Cassie sat in a chair beside a bed watching the strange Pokémon, who had been laid carefully on the bed after its worse injuries were taken care of. She sighed softly, and glanced towards the clock, closing hers eyes to think, something at the window caught her attention, and she could have sworn she heard faint whispers coming from somewhere, but her attention was drawn back to the bed as the pup stirred. Esper, currently lying in the corner of the room, lifted her head and blinked curiously.

(She's waking up...) She remarked, standing and moving to the edge of the bed, sitting and watching patiently. Cassie nodded to the Espeon and sat forward slightly, looking at the Pokémon as she raised her head.

"How do you feel?..."

(Like a Donphan stampede ran me over...) the smaller Pokémon grunted, then looked over sharply, her ears flicking up (Who...?)

Cassie gave a friendly smile, holding her hands up.

"Easy, we won't hurt you little one..." She said reassuringly. The strange pup tilted her head a bit staring at her incredulously.

(You can...understand me?)

"Yeah." she replied, blushing a bit. Blinking, she looked over the Pokémon with interest.

"What's your name?" The pup opened her mouth to speak, then looked over herself and sighed a bit, ears lying back.

(Seki...)

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Meanwhile, outside Blaze finally touched down with a small grunt, Janus sliding down his back moving towards the large doors of the PokéCenter, a buzz of trainers within, being helped by various breeders and nurses, each following orders from the head of staff...Nurse Joy.

"Nurse Joy!" He called out as he made his way through the crowd. Nurse Joy handed a tray of Pokéballs to another nurse, and gave their owner a smile and a report of his Pokémon being returned soon. Glancing past him with a blink, she smiled towards Janus as he came up to her.

"Hello, how may I help you?" She asked in her usual chipper voice.

"A friend of mine came in recently with a wounded Pokémon, do you know what room she's in?" He smiled at her before blinking a few times and laughing nervously, at the flat look Nurse Joy gave him.

"Is this some kind of joke?" She asked.

"Nono, I'm just worried, she should have had an Espeon with her too, and the Pokémon was small, blue with little white diamonds on it's fore legs, and something like a blue crest on it's forehead..."

Nurse Joy blinked then nodded and smiled.

"Of course, this way please," She smiled and started off towards a hallway, Janus following behind her with Blaze, who grunted and rolled his eyes.

"Quiet you," He chuckled and winked at the Charizard as they walked.

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"Seki?" She blinked once, "I don't ever recall hearing about that one..."

(Well, I am a Pokémon...) she rested her head on her paws, closing her eyes partway. Esper hopped up onto the bed and peered at Seki curiously.

(It's a pleasure to meet you Seki...although...I don't remember hearing about any Seki before.)

(Not many have.) She sighed a little.

Esper blinked a few times and looked to the door jumping off the bed and sitting in expectation in front of it. Seki blinked at her curiously.

"Her trainer is probably on the way," Cassie remarked and smiled slightly.

(Trainer? As in...more humans?) Seki asked, blinking worriedly. Esper glanced back at them, seeming to smile.

(Oh don't worry, Janus is very nice to us, he's a great Trainer...) she remarked, her ears twitching slightly before she looked back to the door as the handle on it turned.

(I'm sure he is nice...but I'm not much one for humans anyways.) She replied her ears flicking as she looked to the door when it opened.

"Thank you for your help Nurse Joy," Janus said as he entered the room, Esper pouncing him when he entered.

"Ack, Esper!" He chuckled and smiled holding her in his arms and scratching behind her ears as he walked in smiling.

"She seems really happy to see you," Cassie replied as she stood up. Janus smirked slightly at her.

"I noticed, our friend awake?" He said looking over to the bed and smiling.

"Janus, this is Seki," Cassie said, motioning to the Pokémon on the bed.

(The pre-evolution of Suicune.)

"The what!" Cassie asked looking at the pup with wide eyes, several noises from the Pokémon echoing the same. Janus blinked a few times and looked around in confusion.

"What...what'd she say?" He gave her a confused looks, "Tell me"

"You...you can't be! Suicune doesn't have a lower form!" Cassie screamed. Seki winced a bit as she pushed herself up to a seated position, her head turning towards Cassie.

(Well, don't I look it?) She sighed a little, looking down, (I used to be a Suicune, too...But...)

Cassie sank down into her chair, looking at Seki with wider eyes. Janus in the meantime checked the door and locked it looking around at them.

"That's impossible...Suicune, can't exist, they didn't add any of the legendaries into the game...they didn't,"

(Well they are, and here I am...You saw a Mewtwo, didn't you? And as I said, I'm sitting in front of you. Trust your eyes, not your mind...) Seki replied, Cassie, translating for her, word for word, blinking at Janus in curiosity.

"M-mewTwo?" Janus said, though a spike of pain slicing through his brain made him wince and blink a few times, "I never saw a MewTwo, and there's a reason for that, the level caps, they nullified half the Legendaries, while the others were removed for being too powerful, so you can't exist..."

Cassie blinked and nodded a few times to Janus.

"Yeah...," turning back to Seki, she gave her a blink, "I didn't see any Mewtwo either..." at a throb in her mind, she winced a bit, "I-I think..."

Seki glanced off to one side, softly muttering to herself.

(He must've done something to your heads...) Sighing a bit, she looked back as she stood up, (Well, thanks for taking me to the Pokémon Center, but now I must leave...)

She started to walk, but let out a yelp and fell forward when her leg collapsed under her.

"Hey!" Cassie looked at her with a blink, "You're not going anywhere, you have to stay and rest..."

"Yeah..." Janus sighed heavily and shook his head, trying to rid himself of the headache he now had, "Listen, I'm going to the admin to figure out why I can't log out. We'll talk more about this when I get back...savvy?"

Cassie nodded to him and sighed looking over to Seki and watching her as she sat back down and lifted a paw, examining it experimentally. He turned to Blaze and Esper.

"You two stay here alright...I'll be back shortly," He pet them both and started out of the room, glancing back at Seki as he unlocked the door and left. Esper looked at Seki curiously and tilted her head.

(So...is that what all the Psychic interference was about, I mean, it was strong enough to give me a headache...) Esper asked. Seki looked over at her and nodded.

(Yeah...that was all MewTwo's doing...that's what happened to me too, MewTwo saw it fit that I be reduced to my puppy self...) She replied shaking her head. Cassie looked at them and sighed, deciding not to try and understand what they were saying, instead leaning back against the chair, she closed her eyes while they chatted.

(Really...that's odd, so he's learned to devolve Pokémon...but, how'd he do that...and what's he doing here?) She tilted her head a little, giving Seki a curious look.

(How he devolves, I think it's just an attack, but as for what he's doing here...) She shook her head a bit, sighing softly (I don't know...I just…don't really know...)

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Outside, Janus trekked for the help desk, and it wasn't long before he stood outside the Admin Help Station, sighing a bit as he walked forwards and pushed open the doors, heading to a desk inside.

"Excuse me...I desperately need to see the admin here...I'm having a problem...a major issue as it were..." He said. A man behind the desk, blinked up at him as his playtime with a pencil he was currently balancing on his finger dropped.

"I can help you, no need to bug the administrator...they're all very busy right now," He said sitting up a bit straighter.

"Yes well, this problem doesn't require a Mod," He replied.

"I'll be the judge of that..."

"Listen I really need to speak with the admin of this server and I mean NOW!"

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"What if we tried to find him?" Cassie cut in, looking at the Pokémon who both gave her a look.

(Easier said then done...) Blaze said collapsing heavily in a corner of the room and heaving a sigh.

(He's right Cassie, our world is huge, there's no telling where he might be) Esper cut in, shaking her head slightly.

(Not to mention how dangerous it'd be when we do come across Mewtwo, if we were to find him. I mean...Do you know how _strong_ he is?) Seki add incredulously.

"I know...it was the only thing I could think of though..." She said with a sigh, looking out the window.

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Janus fist slammed into the table, making the Mod jump slightly.

"Listen I'm not kidding around here...I NEED to see an Admin ASAP!" He shouted.

"What's all the commotion?" A voice behind him asked. Janus blinked and looked behind himself at another man who wore a blue vest with a bandana around his head, and white slacks. He looked at Janus, almost curiously, like he was inspecting more then just what he looked like.

"You the Admin?"

"Yes...what seems to be the problem here..." He asked quirking an eyebrow.

"I can't..." Janus started, but he paused when the admins' eye's slimmed when he got closer.

"You're a hacker."

"W-what? No I'm not, I've never hac-" Janus started again, as he reeled back in surprise, but the Mod behind him, upon hearing the words had already moved, grabbing him.

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Cassie sighed a bit and looked out the window, as the other three discussed things and asked the Legendary Pokémon questions that she either had no answer for, or wouldn't speak in her prescience. She sighed softly again _I wonder when Janus is coming back._

Espers' ear's flicked and she looked at Cassie with a blink.

(Don't worry, he'll be back shortly...) She said. Cassie blinked a few times then looked at the Espeon and chuckled, before smirking slightly.

"Hey, no fair reading my mind."

(Heh, no fair understanding me.) Esper's eyes slimmed at she smiled and giggled lightly.

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"I swear I'm not a hacker!" Janus screamed as he tried to break free of the Mods' grasp on him; however his call fell on deaf ears.

"Player Janus...you're hear-by banned from all servers, and are to give up your character and account for deletion, logout now."

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Author: Hahah! Another, cause I can, so what's gonna happen to him huh, and for your information, I could very well have him deleted.

Janus: WHAT:spazzes:

Author: But then again, who knows, he may yet survive this...

Janus: I'll kill you:is restrained by Cassie, Blaze, and Mew: If I go down, you go down with me Crmsn!

Author: Anyways :coughs then looks at the reviews and smiles: thought I'd forgotten about you folk huh? Naw, I'd never do that. Okay, so it's come to my attention that a few of ya would like to be a part of POL. Okay, I'll be honest, I can do it, and Cassie and Janus will need the help later on anyways. So all who wish to be a part of this/want a cameo, all I really need for you to do is give me just a bit of info. The registration form is below, please enjoy your gaming experience...and remember...nothing can really hurt you there, so what can possibly go wrong:smiles innocently:

Character Name:

Character Screen Name:

Description (Online, Offline for later use though ;)):

Personality (This can be difficult, I know, but it plays a key role in both the fic, and in the posters I plan to create):

Pokémon (Can range anywhere from 1 to 6 and can be from any of the games, level cap is 60):

**-- It's over, those of you who try to get in won't, I'll either ignore you or ask you to re-read this, please don't send in anymore apps. Thankyou.**

**-Crmsn**


	6. Interlude: Hackers and Battles

A/N: So yes I've been a bit bad with updating, and there's no real good reason other than infamous writers block. Although I am currently working on the next chapter as we speak, I figured you, my readers (those of you still with me anyways) deserved something to tide you over till I finished.

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**Hackers**

It is a well known fact that there are hacker groups in POL, though they have masked their prescience from the Administration. There are four groups in all, each taking the names of the notorious Teams Rocket, Magma, and Aqua, the fourth being a new group that has recently surfaced Team Circuit Breaker. First and foremost, the easiest ways to tell a hacker apart from normal players, is that their eyes are warped in some way, shape, or form.

If you should ever discover a hacker, it is advised that you do not engage in a battle with them and try to subdue them yourself. You should immediately inform an Admin, or Moderator in the area or nearest town of the player using a form stating their name, trainer ID number, etc. _(See page 46 for an Example Form)_

A hackers abilities can range anywhere from, enhancing his Pokémon, to taking powers of a Pokémon into his character itself. They also have been known to distort Pokéballs inhibitors to allow them to capture other Trainers Pokémon. As previously noted, do not try to initiate combat with them...it is highly recommended you contact the nearest Mod or Admin. They will take care of it.

Now, there are also other ways to tell apart Hackers and normal players, Pokémon with the skill Odor Sleuth have been able to smell a difference in the Hackers programming, as well as most Psychic Pokémon. _(Read page 42 for more on these powers.)_

The four Hacker Teams, though not affiliated with each other, have been known to quarrel with each other over territory, thus giving us a basic idea of their locations, but it has been a difficult task of capturing any of them at one time. As said in the previous chapter, there is a Zero Tolerance Policy _(See page 83.)_on Hacking.

**Battles**

**Update; Ver 3.2:** A new ban has been placed on the following attacks; Psychic, Hyper Beam, Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, Hydro Cannon, Hydro Pump, Solar Beam, Fissure, Earthquake, Fire Blast, and Thunder. These attacks have been deemed unsafe by P.I.D.G.E.O.T.

The safety of our players is top priority. Please remember that attacking fellow players, even in a playful manner, can cause pain due to the neuro-antennas placed on your temple before entering the game. _(For more on then Neuro-Antenna's see page 114.)_

Remember player etiquette, be kind, courteous, and never force someone to battle if they don't want to. Do not be a sore loser and call a person names as that is bad etiquette. A player does not have to initiate in a battle if he or she does not want to. The only people exempt from this rule is the Gym Leaders.

Effects such as poison, burn, paralysis, and freeze have an effect on Pokémon, and trainers too, remember to be careful at what you aim an attack at. As a safety precaution, do not start battles on any transport vessel unless there is a battle arena built below deck. _(See page 58 for more on Transport.)_

Double Battles are permitted, though it is recommended that one player should never go against two unless they are confident enough in their own abilities as a trainer. The maximum Pokémon you may carry at anyone time is six, with an allowance of one out of their Pokéball at any one time.

**Update Ver. 9.4: **Due to recent requests from players this new update allows the maximum number of Pokémon out to be anywhere from one to three.

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Author: Okay, so I've decided on a schedule so this doesn't happen again, and I'm putting my girlfriend on Beat Down Mode so she can help "remind" me to write at least a little bit of POL every day. Also, pictures, I'll be working on those too. So, enjoy this, the next chapter is going to be up sometime next week...possibly, and I'll elaborate on that later on if it gets posted...big changes heading my way...and hopefully they won't affect my computer or internet in any way. Also, anyone who would still like to join, the form is in the previous chapter, and I'll have notices throughout the story to inform new readers etc.etc.


	7. Ch 5: Wrongfully Accused

Author: Ah see I told you it'd be soon, again sorry for the long wait everyone. Now...please enjoy, the next chapter will probably be up in the next week or two, if all goes well...I hope.

**Chapter 5: Wrongfully Accused**

"I can't!" Janus shouted again.

"Hmph...sure." The Admin said.

"I'm telling the truth, I can't log out!" He growled in retaliation pulling against the Moderator that currently held him. He'd heard stories, rumors at least from people who'd been deleted, in game anyways. It hurt, a lot...

"This is your last chance, log out now!"

"I _can't_!"

"Then this is going to be painful..." The admin glared at him, though Janus returned it ten fold.

"Fine...if that's how it is..." His eyes narrowed slightly before he stamped his foot down on the Mods foot and managed to jostle loose one of his Pokéballs, "Ookami, go, use Sandattack!"

As soon as the sphere hit the ground, a Mightyena launched itself at Janus and the Mod, causing a large cloud of dust to surround them when they hit the ground. A moment later they broke through, bowling over the Admin as they ran for the door.

"Stop him!"

One of the other Mods ran outside after the pair, shouting "STOP!" after them. He skidded to a stop and gasped when suddenly they were jerked from their feet and carried up high in the air, followed by two gushes of wind as something flew past. Unfortunately, there was nothing there to make the wind, as it appeared to be only Janus and the Mightyena, alone, in the air. Janus looked around frantically, somewhat confused at the sudden lift into the air.

"Ookami...I don't like this!" He clutched a little tighter to the Pokémon, looking around frantically. Down below the Admin had run out at the sudden shout, blinking up in astonishment.

"What in the name of-?" He asked himself as he watched them.

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"Where is he?" Cassie was pacing the floor now, looking about worriedly.

(He probably just ran into a battle...or...something...) Came the reply from the large Charizard in the corner of the room.

"Well even now, that can be a bad thing," She replied looking out the window and sighing heavily, "Maybe we should go look for him."

(Then let's go, it's too stuffy in here anyways.) Blaze remarked with a yawn as he stretched languidly and got up.

(I'm game.) came another voice from the bed.

"Seki, you're still hurt," Cassie said, looking at the miniature legendary.

(Then carry me, cause I am certainly not staying here while everyone else trumps outside.)

"Bu-"

(She is small enough...and I don't think it wise to leave her alone in the building Cassie) Esper remarked. Cassie blinked at them for a moment moving to say something before smiling softly.

"Fine...I can tell when I'm outnumbered..." She said with a slight chuckle before reaching down and scooping up Seki, "C'mon, let's go."

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A high-pitched squeal rang out from the vicinty of Janus, apparently from whatever invisble creature was carrying him. A reply squeal came from behind, and the invisible beings, sped up.

"W-what in gods name is happening!" He shouted out clutching tighter to his Pokémon. When they were a suitable distance away, the air around Janus and his Pokémon started to shimmer. A strange bird-like appeared as the air seemed to melt away, and the blue and white flier blinked at Janus and let out a soft squeal. Behind it, an identical Pokémon, although red rather than blue, appeared.

Janus gaped at them for a moment, though he relaxed when he realized who his saviors were.

"M...more?" He said incredulously, "Buh...but..."

The Latios looked back down at the boy, then turned his head and nodded once. At an answering squeal from the one behind, he looked back ahead and put on a burst of speed, letting a cry echo out behind it.

He blinked and loosened his grip on his Pokémon, then held up the Pokéball.

"Ookami return!" A bright flash of red light snared the Mightyena, and it was sucked back into it's Pokéball, then it was put on his waist.

"I wish I had Cassie here so I could know what you two are talking about...where are we going?" He asked looking up at the Latios. It glanced at him, and then gestured ahead a little with its chin, letting out another soft squeal.

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They had gotten outside and weren't even that far from the Pokémon center when Seki's ears pricked and she looked up, eyes scanning the sky.

"Seki...what's the matter?" Cassie blinked at her curiously.

(Do you guys hear anything...wierd?) She asked looking around from side to side. Esper blinked, her own ear's perking slightly.

(Yes...I do...what is that?) Esper said looking up at the sky.

(What...hear what?) Blaze asked looking at them curiously. Seki shook her head.

(I don't know...but...) She leapt down from Cassie's arms, sparing only a wince before running off.

"Seki, wait!" Cassie didn't spare anytime before running off after the pup, Esper and Blaze close behind. A bit further out Seki stopped and looked around with a blink, then looked up, gasping. Cassie came up behind her a few moment later, panting softly.

"Seki!" she ran outside the center and stopped near the pup, panting lightly, "Why did you-" blinking, she looked up, then let out a gasp of her own at the sight of the two growing dots in the sky. Above Janus watched as they grew closer smiling as he waved.

"Hey!" He shouted and pointed down at his friends, "Latios, those're my friends, can we land please?"

The creature looked at him then nodded and began its descent to the ground.

(Well...he's um...back.) Blaze said staring up at the creatures.

(Will today's wonders never cease?) It was Esper that time, her tail flicking back and forth slightly. Cassie sighed and nodded.

"You can say that again..." Cassie remarked quietly to herself. As the Latios and Latias swooped in, she and Seki backed up to give them room. Latios hovered a few inches over the ground, and released Janus, allowing the human to land on his feet. Latias came up behind him, the gust from her swoop kicking up a bit of dirt.

Cassie had to shield her eyes from the dust and sighed a little. When Janus was done dusting off his legs he looked at her.

"Hi...sorry...um...okay, first off, we have trouble...lots...and lots'a trouble-"

"Wait trouble? What kinda trouble?" Cassie asked, giving him a look.

"Eh...the bad kind...but first, we need to find out if they'll help us. You take care of that, since you're our legalized pokétranslator person...thing here...please hurry," Without really waiting for a further response from her, he moved towards his Pokémon shaking his head and mumbling something to himself.

Cassie blinked and stumbled over her words before sighing and looking at the two Legends that stood, er...floated, before her.

"Right um, hi...where...how?" She started her look complete befuddlement. Latios turned his gaze away from the boy to the girl looking at her and nodding.

(Your friend wants to know if we'll help...we will.) He replied calmly. Cassie blinked and looked back over at Janus sighing a little.

"Blaze, Esper, I have to put you back in your balls, it's too dangerous to have you guys out right now, I don't want you to get hurt," He said sighing softly as he pulled out their Pokéballs. A moment later he placed them back at his waist, with his two Pokémon safely stowed away inside.

"So...you gonna tell me what this 'big trouble' is that you were babbling about?" Cassie asked coming up behind him. The sudden voice made Janus jump slightly but he looked at her and sighed heavily.

"The admin...thinks I'm a hacker, and are now out to delete me, and my account," He replied, sighing softly and shaking his head. Cassie had to blink a few times, her eyes widening slightly.

"They think you're a what! How?" She asked looking at him worriedly.

(There's weird things going on in your program, I can feel it) A voice behind her remarked. Causing Cassie to whirl and look at Latias. The red bird like Pokémon let out a little disgruntled sound, fidgeting a little and looking at Cassie.

(You too...)

(She is correct. I can sense it as well.) Latios replied, nodding once.

"What? What sort of weird things?" She shouted, starting to get a little panicked now.

"Um...sorry to interrupt you guys and the explanation you're about to give...but um...I'm not feeling too safe here, especially with the fact that people are staring at us," Janus said, looking around nervously. After a while, he stopped though, and blinked, looking around at their group again.

"Um...Cassie...where's Seki?" He asked with a hint of worry in his voice. Cassie found enough control in her self to stop and blink, then look around.

"I don't know...she was here a minute ago."

(She ran in the direction of the main part of the city. Though why...I do not know...) Latios replied. Janus sighed and was about to say something when a general shout from a ways off cried out.

"There he is! I found him!" Came the Moderators cry, though he stopped dead in his tracks looking on wide eyed and stumbling over his words, "I-is that a..."

"Latios, Latios!" Janus shouted looking back at them frantically, "Get us out of here stat!"

Latios nodded to him and lowered a bit more.

(Get on my back.) He said, though the boy couldn't understand him, the message was relayed through the actions. Meanwhile Cassie mounted Latias, letting out a little "eep" as they slowly lifted off the ground.

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From the surrounding crowd a figure clad in black and yellow watched the two legendaries fly off; a second later he pulled out his PokéNav, a voice crackling through it.

_What do you want?_

"Sir, I've located two of them...should I follow?" The man said in a hushed tone even after moving a fair bit away from the crowd. A silence came through with a crackle of static before the voice clicked in again.

_No, just give me the coordinates...I will deal with this personally, good work._

"Thank you sir, I'll patch the coordinates through to you right away," He punched a few buttons on the PokéNav, seconds later the voice crackled through again.

_Good, keep me updated on anything else you find..._

"Yes sir."

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Author: Okay now for something new, I don't have a lot of time right now to answer everyone's review by email so I'll do it here like every other good author out there.

**KirbyDreamer:** Thank you, I thought I was forgetting a few, oh well, those'll be in the next Update of the rule book.

**DigimonAmericanCager:** I don't know how to reply to this other then "w00t I did!"

**Talal:** :blinks a few times then falls over laughing:Oh...gods...oh gods...I needed this XDXD really I did, honest to god. Oh thank you Talal, for that flame, it's just what I needed after the week I had, if your insult was meant to make me laugh you succeeded. Thanks again :)

**Twilight the Umbreon:** Good I hope you'll keep reading :)

**Angel of Hope and Miracles:** Thanks for the offer I may just take you up on that from time to time.

**One Who Rides the Wind:** Yeah, it's a bit difficult with a few of them, but don't worry, just do those you think you can, I'm sure they'll turn out great.

**A I D A:** You...my friend, are the review every author dreams of reading, go right ahead and send it to my email I'm glad I was able to inspire you to write again and that you're even revising your old stuff. As for it having it's own site, honestly, I was looking into doing that, heck, maybe even make it a MUSH for people to RP with each other etc. etc. We'll see though.

**Nightjade:** Thought your name looked familiar, hmm, you're char looks okay by me, I'll see where I can fit her in.

**Arrrgh:** Well, if I didn't, this story will never be finished...what...stop looking at me like that...

Well that's it for now folks, remember submission form is back on Chapter 4, see you in'a week or two...hopefully.


	8. Ch 6: Lost and Found

Crmsn: Ah yes, welcome back to the story, this chapter took a bit of time, and I'm sorry for being a few days off target, but hey...better late then never right?

Janus: Just so you all know...it took him a long time cause he recently got a Nintendo DS and sorta "lost track of time" with it...for a week.

Crmsn: HEY! That's not true...okay well...sorta not true...I didn't lose track of time, I was...involved...

Janus: With saving the world, yuh-huh...heard it already.

Crmsn: _Any_ways...while you read, know that I won't get distracted by an-ooh F.E.A.R. is out sweet!

Janus: ...right...so does that mean I can start writing this?

Cassie: Not on your life Janus...just get the copyright stuff outta the way, please?

Janus: Fine, we do not own Pokémon or any derivative there of, it's copyright of GameFreak and/or Nintendo...happy?

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**Chapter 6: Lost and Found**

Janus let out a sigh of relief and relaxed on Latios before he blinked a few times.

"Okay...now that my official translator is here..." He began, and cleared his throat, "Where the hell're you guys coming from! You're like the fourth or fifth legendaries I've seen today! What gives?"

(There is no need to shout...I can hear you just fine.) Was the reply from Latios, which earned a giggle from Cassie.

"What...what'd he say?" He looked at Cassie curiously, but she just shook her head. Latios and Latias steered closer to each other for the conversation to be easier to hear between them.

(To answer your question though...we come from...where we come from...) was the only answer they got, which warranted him a flat look from Cassie after she relayed the message.

"That's not a very clear answer..." She remarked flatly.

(It's not very clear to us, either.) Latias replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Cassie asked curiously. There was a long silence afterwards before she sighed and shook her head and translated for Janus. He thought for a moment before looking between the two of them curiously.

"Well...think you can tell us what you do know?" He inquired. There was another pause before Latios spoke up.

(The system has...hiccupped. The Legendaries have been released from where we were being kept, and many are destroying the world as we speak...)

"They're what!" Cassie shouted in astonishment.

(There are a few of them, such as us and the Suicune pup who was with you, who are out to help rather then hurt. However, there are many more bent on destruction.) Latios continued. Cassie looked between then legendary and Janus as she translated.

"Where the hell, were you guys being kept anyways, I mean...the legendaries weren't even supposed to be in the game!" Janus argued.

(The important thing now isn't what _has_ happened, but what _is_ happening.) Latios replied. After her translation, Cassie sighed a little.

"Yeah...you have a point. So let's just go find Seki and figure out what's going on here." Cassie said, closing her eyes for a moment. Janus blinked at her then nodded.

"Yeah, we should, but she's just a small pup, and injured right now," He shook his head, "And my only hope at finding out why I can't log out is now chasing me down, maybe...maybe it's nothing...I'll check the message boards later..."

Latias blinked at him for a moment before making a small curious noise.

(You can't log out? Maybe that's the weird thing in your systems...) Latias glanced between the boy and girl for a moment while Cassie translated. Janus blinked a few times and looked off towards their destination.

"Really, but...I don't understand, it's never happened before, and I've never heard of anything like this..." He shook his head in confusion and sighed heavily. Cassie sighed running a hand through her hair before looking at him.

"I don't know...what if it has something to do with our encounter with Mewtwo?" She asked him curiously.

(Mewtwo?) Latios looked back at them then at Latias, the two of them exchanging a look, (Perhaps it'd be best if you told us what happened to you?)

Janus and Cassie looked at each other for a moment in turn before nodding slightly.

"Well...from what I can piece together..."

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Seki meanwhile had been trying to make her way through the city, the amount of people around her making it kind of hard to maneuver, especially with her injured paw which she constantly cursed mentally as she tried to get out of the bustling town. One of the many exits of the town was within reach, and it almost seemed like she'd make it.

Then there came a pair of hands that lifted her off the ground, causing her to let out little sounds of protest.

"Aw, don't be afraid little one, I'm not going to hurt you," Came a voice, calm and soothing. It wasn't long before Seki found herself being cradled in the arms of a young girl.

"Wow, you're a new kinda Pokémon...I don't think I've seen you before," The girl said smiling happily. All Seki could really make out of her was...pink...and lots of it.

"Rainy!" Another voice shouted out. More humans, great, just what Seki needed, she just wanted to get away from this blasted city.

"Hey MC...you'll never guess what I just found" The girl, Rainy apparently, replied turning to face the other with a broad smile. Seki actually had to look the other human up and down to figure out what the gender was, it...could have been a boy...but it was fairly hard to tell.

"Huh, what's that in your arms?" The other asked, brushing a bit of his silver hair out of his eyes to get a better look at the Pokémon.

"I dunno...I found it running out of town," She replied.

"Looks hurt..." he reached out and lightly stroked the wrapped paw of the Pokémon, causing it to draw the paw back reflexively and growl a little at him.

"Oh, poor thing..." She blinked a few times then looked at the other, "Do you think it belongs to anyone, MC?"

The boy, MC apparently, looked thoughtful for a moment before sighing.

"Probably, I doubt something this rare would be walking through the city like that...we should probably return it to the Pokécenter and see if it does..." MC motioned with his head for her to follow and started off, his hands in his pockets, meanwhile...Seki sulked.

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It took a moment for Cassie to realize where they were when they started to land.

"What're you doing?" She asked looking at the legendaries worriedly as they landed on the far side of the city in a, thankfully, secluded alley.

(We're going to look for your friend) Latios said before he swooped up just before hitting the ground in the secluded area, hovering inches above the ground. He glanced at Janus.

(But don't worry about getting caught; I can take care of that.) He waited a moment for Cassie to translate.

"Really, he can?" Janus blinked and looked at him curiously, "How?"

(I can disguise myself as you, and allow myself to be caught. Convincing them I am you, you can use a minimal disguise to wander around without suspicion.) Latios stated looking at him. When she was close enough to the ground, Cassie, hopped off of Latias, and glanced over.

"That..._might_ work...But how will you make yourself look...human..." the slowdown was caused by Latias beside her, as she began glowing, changing into a Beauty trainer with a slight spray of light, "Wow..."

"Wow, you'd do that for me...but you'll be deleted if you're caught..." Janus said as he gave Latios a worried look.

(Do not worry.) Latios smiled reassuringly, as he moved back a bit (I can handle myself. And, as extra assurance, Latias will accompany you in case I have to break my cover...)

Moments later, Latios shifted into a perfect copy of Janus, right down to the last byte. Then looked at them and smiled.

"That's...impressive..." Cassie looked at Latios then back to Latias as she shifted back to her normal form. Janus was taken aback slightly at the appearance of his sudden "twin".

"Wow, that's...a really good copy," He looked at him for a moment before smiling, "Be careful Latios...don't let'em hurt you..."

Latios nodded and waved before turning and running out of the alley.

(We'll wait a bit then head off ourselves...) Latias said once Latios had vanished into the crowds. Cassie nodded an affirmative before looking out again, sighing a little. Janus watched for a moment longer before nodding to himself and taking off the trench coat he was wearing and handing it to Cassie, who blinked at him curiously.

"What...?" She started to say but was silenced by the ripping sound of the gauze bandages he'd taken out of his fanny pack.

(It appears he's altering his appearance in order to make it around more safely, though I'm curious about the bandages...) Latias remarked curiously. Cassie nodded slightly blinking a few times.

"Yeah...Janus, where'd you get the bandages anyways?" Cassie inquired as she watched his wrap his wrists.

"Let's just say I learned the hard way that you can sprain an ankle running when it rains here," He chuckled softly then winked and reached into the pack slung around his waist and took out a pair of sunglasses, originally meant for Pokémon, and put them on. After tucking his shirt in, he mussed up his hair, even more so then it already was.

"There..." He smirked lightly and turned to face them with a grin holding his arms out, "How do I look?"

Cassie blinked a few times and chuckled nervously, while nearby, Latias giggled softly.

"W-well...you uh...look...different," She said, "Though...perhaps later we'll go to Lilycove over in Hoenn and get you a better disguise."

He blinked and turned away from them a little, huffing slightly.

"Well I'm little on resources right now...this is the best I can do and it's better then wrapping my face in gauze like I'd originally planned..." He remarked.

(Honestly, it'd have been an improvement on his current style anyways.) Latias remarked, turning away from them slightly.

"What...what'd she say?" He blinked a few times when Cassie started giggling again.

"Nothing important, Janus, don't worry about it..." Cassie said, still giggling a little. Janus huffed a bit then started walking again.

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"I'm sorry you two, but I don't have anyone on record owning this Pokémon, it doesn't even have a registered ID number," Nurse Joy remarked to the two players in front of her, before looking at the Pokémon in question, Seki.

"Really? Wow, so...does that mean I can keep it?" Rainy asked, somewhat excitedly. MC sighed a little and put a hand on the girls shoulder.

"Calm down, we don't know for sure yet...Nurse Joy, it seem that she's hurt though, you wouldn't know if she was brought in recently do you?" He asked raising an eyebrow. The pink haired nurse sat back for a moment looking up in thought then smiled.

"Well, not to my recollection, I just started my shift so that the other nurse could take her break, she might have, but I don't know, I'll ask her when she comes back in an hour, and if you'd like, I can call you on your PokéNav's when I find out?" She smiled cheerily at them.

"That'd be great Nurse Joy, my name's MidnightCrisis, user IDNo.46348," He said. Nurse Joy smiled, then nodded and typed the name and number into the computer.

"Alright then, I'll give you a ring when I find something out, until then, have a nice day and take care of your Pokémon," she said, giving them a cheery smile as they turned and left. Rainy smiled down at the grumpy looking Seki when they were outside.

"Aw, well you can stay with us till we find those nice people that brought you in here," She said happily. MC glanced at them and grimaced a little rolling his eyes a little and looking up.

"I wonder what kind of Pokémon that is though..." he said to himself more then Rainy.

"It's POLSO, recently added actually, and is the key to opening a new event," A voice said behind them. The two whirled around and saw a tomboyish teen, wearing an orange vest with a yellow shirt underneath, a pair of sunglasses reflected the glare from the setting sun. She brushed her auburn hair out of her eyes and stepped towards them.

"You're really lucky you know, that event only happen to one in a million...do you want to know more about it?" She asked with a grin. Seki blinked a few times, she couldn't tell why...but this person seemed, very familiar. Rainy blinked a few times and raised an eyebrow, nodding slightly. MC, on the other hand, looked less then convinced.

"It's the latest news in the company, very hush-hush, too, no one's supposed to know about it yet, so congrats, you're the Beta testers," She grinned slightly. Rainy blinked a few times and gave MC a curious look.

"Who are you?" He asked, frowning a little. The girl smacked her forehead then chuckled softly and smiled.

"I'm so sorry, how rude of me, my name is...Shidanki, and I'm designated to help you through this event."

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Crmsn: Well there we go, the first appearance of two characters, I am proud to say myself. (honestly they helped me out of not knowing what should happen to Seki, thanks guys ) Now as usual, you can go back to chapter 5 for the application, although I will be removing it after the next chapter, so you've got two more weeks to submit. Okay, now that that's out of the way...ahem...

"Our hero's now find themselves on the run from the administration, will they be able to avoid them, and for how long? And what of Seki, who is this Shidanki, and why does she seem to have this insight of the pre-evolution? All this and more shall be discovered, possibly, in the next installment of Pokémon: OnLine!"

How was that? Anyways, on to the mail!

**Spirit of the Sky:** Well there you go, some insight, but don't think you're getting all of it just yet ;P the answer you're seeking is a plotpoint, and isn't one that can be moved easily, you'll find out in due time...besides...the intrigue is what makes ya keep comin' back )

**PyroDragon88:** Everything seems in order, well done. I'll see if there's a place for him.

**Jack of Blades:** Sorry, you've got everything but what he looks like, Jack.

**A**** I D A: **Thanks again for the review, and yes, I won't deny it, I love big reviews they're nice to read, and it's exciting, heck, all reviews are exciting to get. Anyways, enough ego boosting for us, I sent you off an email, hope you got it, it was probably a little weird because at the time I think it was early morning and I was half awake, if you sent me one, I didn't get it xx.

**InuKagtogetherforever: **That is a mouthful to say and a tongue twister of a name XDXD Anyways, hmm, I'll see if I can fit him in. If I can't, hey, he'll still get drawn

**Kookie****-Chan of Wonderland:** I think I answered everything in the email already but if I haven't...Thank you very much for the compliment on my fic, ah, just feel that ego swell, soon I'll be able to take over the world...er...

**thebenjamin:** Don't worry about it, as for what screwed up Janus and Cassie...well...MewTwo was involved in the rewriting...but not how you might think )

**One Who Rides the Wind: **:sniggers: Vw00t! No worries, and like I've said, take your time...oh, and I hope I got your characters' personality down alright.

**Dinogirl:** Thanks for the compliment. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

:blinks a few times:Okay I may have to start posting these up on my profile...that way A) you get your answers faster, and B) the chapters won't go on forever XDXD;;

Till next time folks.

-Pup


	9. Game Daze: Article VI

A/N: Long time no see folks, everything will be explained after the quip, so if you don't wanna read and head right to my excuses then go right ahead.

**Article VI: About the Neuro-Antenna**

Welcome back loyal readers to another installment of _Game Daze _your number one help desk for all your gamer needs.

Today we'll be discussing the new upcoming hit of Pokémon: OnLine (more commonly reffered to as POL) and its advances in technological ideologies. First off the game grants for first hand experience of what it'd be like to live in the world of Pokémon as a Trainer or Breeder. The graphics are amazingly realistic and the gaming center, it's not just any computer, it just so happens to be the most powerful computer in existence. That's right folks the computer you use in your very own brain.

You're transported to this mystical world via the Neuro-Antenna which transmits the game data onto a frequency on-par with your brain and allows you to take control. Now I know what your thinking "But if my brains in the game, then, isn't that kinda dangerous?" Well don't you worry, cause the good creators of the Neuro-Antenna made sure it that the Neuro-Antenna was safe and user friendly. All you have to do is pop it on your temple and you'll be instantly transported to the game allowing you to see, smell, and feel the world around you.

As a result, however, things such as pain still exist, but thanks to a special little power-surge protector developed by the creators of the Neuro-Antenna, it prevents anything traumatic from escaping into you, such as a 10,000 volt shock from a Pikachu. Now I can already see your next question forming "But Jason, why would someone want to feel pain in a game?" The answer to your question is simple enough. Through the years, advances in gaming have led people to seek new thrills. Sim-games, such as POL, have become the new big hit; the more realistic it is, the more popular it seems to be. As I said earlier, though it may hurt, precautions have been made to prevent any real lasting damage to your being. It's just a new fad that'll go down with the rest in a few years.

In conclusion POL is a great game and I think everyone should at least try the experience one in their life. The graphics are amazing and there's nothing quite like the feel of the wind on your face when your riding on a faithful steed, be it a Ponyta, or a Charizard. As always this is Jason Filch keeping you updated on the hot and cold topics a like. Enjoy your Game Daze. – _Jason Filch_

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Okay so here's the skinny, I've got a life, and it consists of three jobs and school right now. It's been that way since January. November through January was hectic due to holidays, family issues, and registration for college. Sorry profusely for the lack of updates since then, but if anyone knew anything they'd know does not allow for putting up a note as a chapter.

Now, I've been hit with big inspiration as of late (thanks to my dear friend Tess, who played an awesome CD for me one morning and sparked my creativity, so I thank her most of all.) New chapter's gonna be up sometime within the next week or so, I've got the outline all written up and next phase is just to write it out.

Also I've been reworking the idea for this story lately, and as a final note no more character requests please. Now to answer a few questions you may all be asking. Those of you lucky enough to get characters in, I can work'em in, if they don't have big parts, they'll at least have cameos. Not telling you who, what, when, where, or how just yet, ya'll just have to wait like could boys and girls for that.

Now...as a side note... :clears his throat: I LIVE AGAIN!


	10. Ch 7: Rain of Tomorrow

**A/N: **Hey there folks, it's Crmsn here again. Welcome back to the story, which sadly was put on hiatus for the last few months as I straightened out my life. Never the less, I have returned and this time with new friends, a new chapter, and new ideas. Now, back to the story, as I'm sure you've all wanted to find out what has befallen our hero's.

**Chapter 7: Rains of Tomorrow**

"We have no other choice! The system has to be reset before this... this contamination can spread!" A council meeting, a meeting held between all the Admin of all the servers. A meeting that was rarely ever held, save for times of extreme circumstance of course.

"We can't do that, there are too many people in the server right now!" Another admin shouted.

"If we don't, think of the damage that could be dealt," a man wearing a rather vibrant blue jumpsuit said shaking his head and sighing. One of the others slammed his hand on the table and glared at him.

"And I'm telling you, you can't!" He got up and started pacing around the table, the boy was young possibly one of the youngest of the admins at the table. His blue shirt with the Kyougre on it shimmered a little under the light.

"You're not just talking about one server here, Carver; you are talking about the whole system!"

"Well if I'm not correct Brandon you're not the head of this server," Carver said, looking down at the upstart and turning to one of the others.

"At least listen to me, if you do a sudden restart what if there are some people still in the system, huh!" Brandon narrowed his eyes slightly before slapping a paper down onto the table, "We might fry anyone who doesn't leave, and we've already got ten cases of people going into comas because of these attacks. If you ask me, anymore than that is too many!"

Carver pursed his lips and looked at Brandon with a sharp exhale. He opened his mouth to speak but someone clearing their throat nearby made him snap to attention for a second and remember they weren't alone. The creak of a chair heralded a woman leaning forwards, her amethyst eyes looking at them both rather coldly as she steepled her fingers.

"Gentlemen, if you will please sit down," she stated and looked at them both, before closing her eyes and sighing a little, "We shall come to a decision through a vote, after all this is a moot effort...let's not be irrational."

The other two sat back down in their sits, glaring daggers at each other. As the woman sat up, her hair fell to her knees and was drawn back in a pony-tail, starting as a light auburn and gradually growing to a darker red as it reached the tips.

"Both of you make a valid point, but we can't just sit by idly...and as long as I'm in charge of the Imayou server..." her eyes flicked to Carver for a second who crossed his arms and sat back, "I propose a full system lockdown."

She looked around and sighed leaned against the table, looking down at the sheet of paper about those who had fallen victim to the disaster. The head of the table stood up and looked around at everyone. His eyes scanning them for a moment before he started speaking.

"The company is working their hardest to keep this thing under control, and they asked us to make sure it stays that way here. As such I believe it is possible to put the Imayou server on total lock down. All those in favor?" he said as he looked around the room as droves of hands rose, and affirmatives sounded.

"Then it is settled by a unanimous decision...in effect, as of today, the Imayou server is under full lockdown, please inform the players and have them evacuated them from the area. Meeting adjourned."

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A flash of lightning lit up the sky as dark clouds began to roll in over the small port town.

"Jeezus...you ever see it do that before?" a moderator looked over at one of his cohorts as they searched for the renegade Hacker. His partner just looked at him and shrugged.

"Maybe they're just trying something new, you know, some new weather update, they did say there was gonna be a new one right?"

"Yeah...right," they continued on their way looking around even as the rain started to pepper across the ground, steadily building up. Another flash of lightning brightened up the dimming sky, causing Latios to look around in worry before he ran off again.

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Janus skid to a halt and blinked as his PokéNav started beeping and vibrating, a moment passed before Cassie's did as well, along with everyone else's around them. He stopped and lifted it up and looked at it repeating the words of the message as he read it aloud.

"'Due to Server issues, Imayou will be put under total lockdown in effect as of today. During this time no one may enter the server. All Trainers, Breeders, or Rangers, caught within the area will be forced to log out. All who resist will be deleted without question. You have all been warned. Thank you. Signed, the Administration'?" Janus stared incredulously at the PokéNav before letting out a disgruntled noise and looking at Cassie, "We have to leave now."

"But, what about Seki, and Latios?" Cassie asked looking at him worriedly. Latias looked off for a moment and let out a small worried noise.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, Seki will live, and Latios can fly. Plus, I'm sure he and Latias share a link and they can communicate from far apart...am I right?" He looked over at the disguised Pokémon who gave him a slightly blank look before nodding slowly and sighing softly.

Janus smiled and looked back at Cassie, who wasn't so sure of herself.

"C'mon lets make our way to the harbor, and catch a boat to Johto...I've got a friend over there that can help us," he rested a hand on her shoulder before she nodded, and three of them started towards the docks.

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Meanwhile, Seki and her captors were already boarding a ship.

"That was some foresight Shidanki, lucky us, huh Snowball?" Rainy said with a smile down at the little Poképup in her arms. Seki held back the urge to gag; she hated the pet name this human had given her. "Snowball", what kinda name was that for a legendary. She was a powerful Pokémon, and here she was...almost utterly defenseless, injured, and nicknamed after a ball of slush. Joy.

"Yeah...wasn't expecting that honestly, well, the best thing to do would be to catch a ship to Johto, then we can...start the event," Shidanki said, eyes falling onto Seki. The Pokémon shivered at the look. Rainy however took it as a sign that the current wind and light drizzle were starting to affect the pup she held.

"It's okay, Snowball. We'll be nice and warm soon," Rainy cooed softly down to her.

A flash of lightning brightened the sky again, the rain seeming to fall harder with each loud crash.

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"Hrm...the weather's getting rough," the captain said looking out of the observation deck of his ship, eyes narrowing. A little coo from a small water drop shaped Pokémon at his side made him smile though as he reached down and lightly pet the Castforms head.

"Yeah I know Kelvin...just don't overstrain yourself alright?" He smiled at a happier coo from the little water drop, a chuckle rising from him, though it died when he looked out the window again, "You'd think the god of the sea was out and about tonight."

"Captain," The sound of foot steps as one of the sailors came up behind him and saluted, "The ship has almost reached full capacity, and there are still people wanting to board, what should we do?"

The captain turned and looked at the sailor for a long moment before looking back over his shoulder and sighing.

"Gonna have to turn them away. There're other boats though, so they won't be stranded here when the lock down's in effect. Send word to the engine room, full speed ahead," he looked down at the smiling water drop, "Kelvin, head up to weather room and give us some sunshine, we're gonna need it."

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Outside, the tempest only seemed to be getting worse. Out on the wharf, the sailors started to push people back just as Janus and his friends made it by. Everyone seemed rather eager to get out of the server and the growing storm didn't seem to be helping any. Janus and Cassie went to the rooms set aside for players who needed a quick rest or got sea sick easily and both collapsed in a chair, while Latias went and explored the rest of the ship.

"Cassie?" Janus said looking over at the girl, who reminded him somewhat of a drowned rat.

"What's up Janus?" She asked looking at him with her head cocked to the side.

"I miss food..."

"Me too Janus..." she giggled a little and sighed then sat forwards and looked at him, "Do...do you think people are worried about us?"

"I dunno, never thought about that," he blinked a few times and looked at her then sighed, "How long have we been here do you think?"

"A day I think..." she replied with a sigh, looking over at him and giving him a small smile, "We'll get out of her Janus. You can count on it."

He smiled a little and nodded then looked out the window at the growing storm.

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"Captain Altan!" The sailor ran up behind him at the head of the bridge, "Kelvin hasn't been able to have any effect on the weather."

"What?" Altan blinked in shock at the sailor for a second before he frowned, they were already out at sea, and it wasn't being very forgiving right about now as the ship rocked sharply to the side and groaned deeply. Altans eyes narrowed a little.

"We're on our own tonight men, just try to keep her steady and avoid the swells!" He looked at the sailor, "See to it our guests are alright."

"Yes sir," the sailor saluted sharply then turned and walked out. Altan turned and looked outside his eyes narrowing a little closer together.

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The ship rocked sharply to the side throwing the trio currently in their room into the wall.

"Jeez! What the hell whazat?" MC shouted at the top of his lungs looking around as he clutched to the edge of the bed as it rocked a little more violently again, a loud screeching groan coming from the surrounding area.

"Damn this storm, maybe we just shoulda logged out..." Rainy said, looking rather worriedly down at Seki.

"If you'd done that, the little whelp wouldn't be there when you got back," Shidanki replied. The ship rocked sharply to the side again and Rainy fell to the side Seki yelping as she rolled along the floor before shaking her head, blinking a few times at the open door before bolting out of it.

"SNOWBALL!" Rainy reached out to try and grab for the pup but just barely grazed her tail. Shidanki on the other hand was already running after her.

"Catch her, don't let her escape!" She shouted.

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Another large wave crashed into the ship again, rocking it harder. Altan faltered a little but kept upright for the moment. His head snapped to the side as he barked orders to his crew.

"Hard to starboard, and put the engine to full, let's get ourselves out of this tempest!" as the ship moved, a large wave rose up and crashed into the side of the ship. Altan faltered and clung to his chair before his head snapped up in time to see another heading right for them. A pair of ungodly eyes peered through the dark murky water as the wave crashed into the ship, washing onto the deck and shattering the glass of the bridge. The water poured in, throwing the navigation crew and Captain Altan to the floor, knocking several of them senseless.

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The sharp movement of the ship threw Latias in the wall then into the opposite side and back again, knocking her around and injuring a little more then just her pride. At a couple shouts her head snapped up when she saw a little blue fur ball running her way. Her eyes widened for a second before she squeaked.

(SEKI!) She screamed out, getting a few weird looks from people. The little pup blinked and looked up for a second seeming hesitant before running forwards and leaping into her arms.

(What the heck are you doing here Latias!) Seki asked before looking over her shoulder and squeaking (Never mind, just get me out of here, those people scare me!)

"There she is! Hey, thief, give us back that Pokémon!" Shidanki shouted at them as she rounded the corner.

(I see what you mean, hang on, close your eyes!) Latias said, before she closed her own eyes and opened them again. A bright flash lit up the entire hall blinding their pursuers as she ran back down towards the room where the others were residing.

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"Captain Altan wake up!" A sharp slap across his face brought Altan back to his senses as he looked around in a slight haze. Shaking his head and getting up again, he steadied himself and righted his hat, ignoring the fact that he was soaking wet.

"Status report sailor," he said moving to the helm quickly, and doing his best to not fall down in the process.

"The engine is shot sir, she over heated trying to escape that last swell. The navigations taken water damage; all in all we're sitting ducks out here!"

"Emergency evacuation procedures, all non-personnel are to abandon ship. Use the life boats, contact the administration immediately, and help anyone who needs it. I'll stay and keep her steady while you make your escape!" He shouted out to them, the sailors saluted him before they ran out of the bridge. He looked back out of the broken window when the others were gone, his eyes going wide for a moment as the sky lit up with lightning again, illuminating a figure in the distance breaching the water and arching through the air towards them like an angel of death, bearing all the glory of the devil himself in the cascading waves.

"What in the name of hell is going on around this place?" He growled in his throat as the bow of the ship raised again, hiding the shadowed menace from his view momentarily before it crashed back into the ocean. Altans' body jerked into the helm forcing the wind from his diaphragm, before another violent rock backwards sent him hurtling into the back wall. The last thing he'd remember seeing is the red eyed shadow before his head cracked against the railing, his vision exploding into darkness a moment later.

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Hahah! My dreaded little writing style has changed these past few months and with a new crew helping me out my errors will soon be fewer to none. Special thanks go out to my girlfriend and Sage for helping me find my errors, hope I fixed them all.

Now, I have a plan to at least get another chapter or two out and about within the next two weeks, 'cause when it does, I am gone.

First off, the reviews, I'm sorry I haven't been so responsive lately to any of you, so let me fix that.

**KatieLegends**: Don't worry I'm planning on reading and reviewing the rest of your story and thanks for the review in kind.

**Sage8675:** Thanks for the awesome reviews and the help reviewing over the chapter.

**To any and all who sent in a character before it ended, thanks, you all will have at least a cameo or some significance to the story. Any that I receive after this chapter will go ignored, sorry.**

**DiamondKing:** Vwoot!

**SuperSanne:** Honestly I think I should thank you and InaKagtogetherforever for giving me a boot into starting up again. At least I did though, sorry the chapters are late you two ;P

**Kawaii Kitsune Cub:** Kinda? I liked the idea and after beating the Dot.hack games yeah the ideas kinda started flowing.

**thebenjaman:** Hope the story answered your question...well...save for a few that I intentionally left out of here :cackles:

That's all for now and there's more still to come. Now I've got a birthday to plan for and the next chapter to finish up. Later all.

-Crmsn


	11. Special Announcements

**A/N: **Hey all just a minor little update-kinda-thingie. The stories still not dead, just working kinda slow with it right now, had a few bumps to go over with school and such. Reminding you all that this is just a small update nothing that needs to be gone over with a fine tooth comb...yet. So to those of you who are my checkers/proofreaders: I'm not forgetting about you, you'll be receiving the next chapter hopefully soon.

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**The Squawk-Box**

Like every MMO preceding POL, there is an open chat for everyone in every area/server. The Squawk-Box is the all purpose chat room, with special features for open chat, private chat, silent trainer, help channel, and the newly added PWC and AMP chat.

The open chat is for all players to communicate back and forth with others in the same server, city, or road. It allows for open discussions about areas and is usually the beginning of many friendships and debates between people in the same city or even on the other side of the server.

The private channel is a trainers own personal channel with which they can communicate with friends, team mates, rivals, and your gym leader if you belong to a gym. Each player has their on ID number with which he or she may share with their friends for personal chats and conversations.

Silent trainer is a special mode specifically designed so that you don't have to listen to those loud and noisy chats when hunting that rare elusive Pokémon. The silent trainer mode also has a second feature of team speak, allowing for short ranged communications if you're working with others; a handy tool for every trainer.

The help channel is a specified channel with which you may contact the admin and request help of any kind; even if that help is information about a certain area and where the nearest town is, or if you happen to injure yourself and don't have the means to get back to town. The help channel is also most commonly referred to as the "Newbie" channel by the veteran players.

Finally we have the new additions to the Squawk-Box, the PWC and AMP chat. The PWC stands for "Poké-Watchers-Club". This is a special channel used to broadcast information about special events and even sightings of rare Pokémon. They also usually also keep the 4-1-1 on all information within the servers. This channel may only be operated by PWC personnel only.

Lastly there's the AMP chat. The AMP chat stands for "Admin-to-Mod-to-Player chat". It is a channel specifically used by the Administration of POL to send out long range announcements to everyone within the server. It is the only channel that can interrupt all others including private channels. This channel may only be used by POL personnel only.

**ANNOUNCEMENT: ANY HACKING OR PIRATING OF THE PWC OR THE AMP CHAT WILL BE STRICTLY PROHIBITED. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT HACKING/PIRATING EITHER OF THESE FREQUENCIES YOU WILL BE TREATED AS A HACKER AND DEALT WITH ACCORDINGLY. **_(Please read the Hackers section of your user manual for more information.)_

**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE ADMINISTRATION 7/23/XX**

As of late, rumors have been spreading around that there is a problem with the game. Please disregard all recent rumors of sightings of legendaries. Legendaries do not exist in this game yet, they will come with a later update and you all just have to wait like everyone else. Rumors that players have been reported missing, and people falling into comas are false accusations. The reasoning behind the Imayou servers' lockdown is for special testing on weather simulation. This new weather simulation is as yet untested and we do not wish for anyone to be injured by these tests. Until further notice Imayou server will be shut down. We apologize for the inconvenience and we thank you for your patience.


	12. Ch 8: Lost Inquiries

**A/N:** So...yea....4 years...yeah..I got nothing. Life caught up to me...things happened. Life sucks. Been sitting on this for two years actually typing little by little...I still have more to come. I'm hoping to get back up to a regular posting schedule again. I do have another chapter all written up and ready for the next post. I'll aim for once a week, and yes I do intend to finish this story. I don't feel right leaving it unfinished. _ Anyways, on with the story and the show.

**Chapter 8: Lost Inquiries**

"Pitiful humans," The voice stated blandly. MewTwo looked around the ruined city again in faint amusement.

"So weak, all of you, you're not even worth the effort anymore. This is a world meant to be ruled by the strong!" He stated loudly to the emptied city. He floated upwards and looked down at the decimated land before his eyes started to glow. He sharply brought his arms upwards with a loud growl causing the objects below to creak and groan in kind, shaping and bending them to his will.

"I am not just powerful! I am _all_ powerful! A _god_ among these...these worthless beings!" He swayed his arms as the city dragged and moved upwards forming a tower that reached high up into the sky. MewTwo floated there glaring at it, his eyes glowing bright blue as he shifted and formed the seamless spectacle. The top of the tower seemed to reach higher into the sky at his will, before he moved and began to shape the land into his domain.

"Just as I was imprisoned so shall they be! Let the reign of man end and the reign of MewTwo, begin!"

* * *

"Holy hell!!" that would have been Janus as the ship jumped and shuddered, hurling him from the comfort of the bed, "What was that?!"

"My guess would be a big wave crashed into the side of the boat, Janus," Cassie remarked giving him a rather flat look. Janus sighed sharply and got into a sitting position and tenderly rubbed at his forehead with a wince. Cassie rolled her eyes and scoffed at him a little before looking out the window and sighing softly. She was startled out of her thoughts when the ship shook violently again seeming to crash hard into something.

For a moment Janus and Cassie were plunged into darkness before the emergency lights flared into life, bathing the room with that pulsing red.

"Um...I'm no expert, but flashing red lights were never a good sign in the movies," Janus remarked furrowing his brow and standing up again. There was a general commotion outside before a loud voice spoke up over it all.

"Everyone please exit your rooms in a calm and orderly fashion and follow one of the personnel to a designated evacuation area. I repeat please follow us in a calm and orderly fashion to a designated evacuation area!" The voice repeated the words as it walked down the hall. The commotion started up again and the shuffling of feet followed suit.

"Emergency evacuation?" Cassie asked curiously as she exchanged a look with Janus who shrugged and shook his head.

"Never heard of them doing this before, maybe it's some sort of event?" He said with a weak smile.

"Yeah...let's hope that's all it is, c'mon we better find Latias," Cassie said moving ahead of him and opening the door. He blinked and nodded following after her as they started to battle against the oncoming group of voyagers.

* * *

(I think we lost them...) Latias said slumping down against a door and sighing as she panted for breath. (How can humans live like this?)

Seki let out a little indignant noise.

(Thanks for the save, so what're you doing here exactly...did you ditch the boy and girl too?) Seki said as she hopped out of Latias arms to explore the room they were in.

(No...I just wanted to explore the ship a little; I've never been on one before...they're back in the cabin right now...) Latias replied, watching Seki walk around and sniff at a few objects curiously (You don't like them very much do you?)

(Why should I?) Seki huffed a little and cringed when the ship shook again (They locked us away and treated us like we didn't even-)

(Exist?) Latias smiled weakly at the glare that got her (technically...we don't to them Seki. We're just little ones and zeros on a computer screen. We...didn't fit in with their plans yet.)

Seki stared at her and sat down shaking her head for a moment and sighing heavily. Latias smiled and was about to say more when she heard a strange noise and blinked at it. It was obvious Seki had heard it too when the Suicune pup snapped to attention looking around.

(Latais, what is that...it sounds like...) Seki closed her mouth trying to think of the word before Latias looked at her and filled in the blank curiously.

(Something growling...?)

* * *

Janus and Cassie had made it passed the worse parts of the crowds and were currently running down the hall worriedly. A door ahead of them opened and exepelled a figure who began running at them full sprint. Cassie smiled brightly.

"Latias!" She shouted out but blinked at the frantic look on the girls face.

(Run! Run fast!!) She shouted bolting passed them. Cassie and Janus shared a blank look with each other before Cassie started running after her.

"Why!?" Cassie shouted after her worriedly. As if to answer for her, the whole ship began to shudder slightly.

"What's happening!?" Janus said as he stumbled a few steps before running after them. Latias cast them a furtive glance slowing enough for Cassie to catch up with her.

(He's coming! We have to hurry before-) She was cut off when she faltered and fell to the ground as the shuddering turned to shaking, becoming violent. Cassie blinked and moved to help Latias up. She stopped short though at a strong roaring noise that pierced her to the core as she threw her hands over her ears.

"W-what is that!?" Janus asked looking around for the source of the noise wincing and covering his ears as he tried to stumble over towards the others who were trying to block out the noise. Janus fell backwards when the ship jumped, suddenly focused more on the sound of tearing metal and splintering wood. He scrambled to get back up but by that time it was too late. The ground under him became uneven and was torn away from him violently by the ocean. He managed to keep a solid footing on the ground, but it was difficult to keep his balance. The shaking didn't help either as he looked at the others screaming out their names but having the words lost to the noise of the raging waters the beckoned for him below.

By the time Cassie and Latias looked up it was too late, Janus footing had slipped out from under him and he fell backwards as everything was lost to him under the roar of the ocean. Cassie managed to get to her feet and was running towards him. He reached futily for her, for anything to grab onto as he fell. He closed his eyes tightly, and tried to will this nightmare away before the dark waters swallowed him whole, his world losing focus as he was sucked into the undercurrent of the water.

* * *

_Gotta hold on Janus...just....just hold on... _He thought to himself, trying to fight against the current of the water as it sucked at him, ripping the warmth from his body. His world began to fade and his lungs burned. The ocean was black, all he could make out was the pulsing red lines of something coming towards him. There was a shaking around him, and a loud noise that was lost as bubbles escaped his mouth, and the water poured into his lungs. His thoughts drifted as he began to lose consciousness. This was the end of the end of the line for him. Suddenly everything seemed to fade, the last thing he heard was the echoing roar in the distance.

A bright light filtered through his eyelids and he opened them blearily and looked around. He was drifting in a stark white land, with nothing in every direction.

_Am...am I dead? _He wondered to himself looking around curiously. _Ah-I guess I died...so this is the end then...everything...my whole life gone...I can't believe it..._

"Dont be silly, Janus...you're not dead!" The voice came from nowhere, and everywhere. The voice was feminine, and sounded young. Looking around he found nothing.

"I'm...not?" He asked curiously.

"No silly," The voice giggled lightly, gently, "Thanks to me anyways..."

"Who are you then, and where am I?" He began to look around.

"Oh how rude of me," There was that giggle again. Janus looked around curiously, then let out a startled oath when a pink furry face floated an inch in front of his. The pink cat like creature giggled lightly and reached out poking his nose lightly sending him spiraling backwards and landing heavily on the...er...ground...

"Wh...Mew?!" He stared at the pokemon as it floated and giggled at him.

"Of course, who else did you think I would be?"

"I can understand you though! "

"Of course you can...but that's not important right now, there's more pressing things we need to discuss and there's not a lot of time to do it in...so sit there and just listen. You're trapped here thanks to MewTwo, I'm sorry, but that's just how it is, and you're not the only one. There are other players, like you, who've had a nasty encounter with legendaries like him who're out there trying to destroy this world and yours."

"H-hold on, I-"

"No interupting," She floated towards him giving him an indignant huff, "You, are special, you possess the one thing that can stop them...the MasterBall Program, to use this you simply activate it by using your CustomBallGenerator. I know it's bothering you so I'll answer your questions in order. Yes, you're very much alive. No I don't know how to help you get back to your world...but I can promise you I'll do my best to try and find a way. For your big question...though we may be computer programs, we are very much alive thanks to you humans...it's this reason that we feel indebted to your kind...however there are those of us who are bitter at being kept locked away...they want revenge...MewTwo is the most dangerous of all of them and needs to be stopped as fast as you possibly can. Lastly, your largest question...you are in possession of the MasterBallProgram thanks to me. That girl, Cassie, you saved her Janus...your data prevented her from being destroyed utterly...somehow, when Psychic struck the two of you, your character data mingled with hers and replaced the damaged coding...you however weren't as lucky, I did my best to save you and used the remaining data from that admin who was destroyed by MewTwo. This is how you got the program...of course your ability to speak with pokemon was lost to Cassie. Along with a few memories."

Janus stared at Mew for a few moments longer. When she didn't say anything he took a deep breath.

"Right, that....that pretty much does it for the Q and A...but..but why me?" He stared at her questioningly.

"Cause you're...different Janus...I know all about your past. I've seen what you've done, and even why you left the Administration..." She looked at him softly, "I'm sorry this had to happen Janus...I promise we'll find a way for you to go back to your world."

"Well, you…uh…you really nailed all my questions, except for one..." He said before looking at Mew, "Where…am I?"

Mew blinked and giggled.

"Well I thought that would be obvious Janus...we're in your mind...it's time for you to go now..." She smiled lightly. Janus couldn't help but blink at the pokémon.

"Go? Where am I going?" He asked worriedly, the world began to fill with static though.

"Ba...to the...fi...MewTwo..." Janus blinked a few times when static filled in between Mew's voice. She began to float backwards...or was he being pulled away.

"Wait, I still have more questions, what am I supposed to do? How do I fight MewTwo. Wait…WAIT!!!"

The world went black again. The only thing he could hear was a ringing in his ears. He groaned, and shivered a little curling up in a ball and opening his eyes blearily. He was on the floor. It was dark, and the sound of rain thudded against the roof of whatever building he was in. He blinked open his eyes all the way and winced at the persistent ringing that perpetuated the air. It took him a few moments to realize the noise was his PokéNav going off

* * *

Cassie held the PokéNav to her ear and waited. The ringing continued and seemed to stretch on forever.

"Oh c'mon Janus...please pick up...please, please, please," She fidgeted nervously. Latias looked at her worriedly. They had been rescued by the administration, and were currently resting in a PokéCenter. The storm was less dense, but still raging. There was a click and she brightened.

"Janus!?" She paused and waited. There was static, and a faint crackling of a voice on the other side.

"Janus, is that you? I can't hear you...there's static," The crackling continued. Then the line died. She stood there for a long moment and slumped down into her seat heavily.

* * *

"Cassie!? Can you hear me!? Cassie!" He blinked when the line went dead and cursed looking at the Nav as it fitzed and sparked a little, "DAMMIT! I hate how real this game can be sometimes..."

He sighed sharply and shook out the Nav then put it away, looking around. The whole center was dark, save for the few windows which a dark blue light seemed to spill through. Not enough to see by, but it was enough to know where you were going. A flash of lightning illuminated the entire room. He sighed softly reached for his belt and released Blaze.

"Hey Blaze, think you can help me with some light?" He asked with a smile as he patted the dragon's side softly, Blaze answered with a small grunt. Outside the rain continued to beat down across the land.


	13. Ch 9: Emerald Skies

**Chapter 9: Emerald Skies**

"-And don't forget we have some new news for all you hunters out there, a new safari zone will be added after the newest update tonight. Remember all trainers need to be logged off of their servers, you will all be given another warning one minute before you are forcefully ejected from the game. Aside from that, a new and rare pokemon was spotted in the Sapphire Mountains..."

Jet leaned back against the tree, his squawk-box next to him tuned to the PWC before he shook his head.

"Janus...hope you weren't caught man," he picked up his PokeNav and looked down at it, he was biting at his bottom lip before he frowned lightly and began searching through his buddy list and blinked in slight confusion.

"Online, in Imayou?" He blinked at it in askance for a moment before he stood up and moved down towards the road, "That idiot...what did he get himself into this time."

* * *

Cassie sat clutching her PokeNav, hoping that Janus would call her back and let her know he was alright. With nothing else to do, she sat in a chait in the corner and let her mind wander, listening to the general chatter of the other players.

"Man, do you think that was supposed to be part of the last update?"

"Probably, that whole thing with the boat really freaked me out, my arms are still shaking from holding onto the railing for dear life. They seriously need to fix that weather simulator."

"You know I hear that this isn't the only strange thing to have happened recently."

"Really? What kind of things have you heard?"

"Well...like how they just suddenly shut down the starting city in Imayou. I've also got a friend out in Johto who said Ecruteak city was blocked off from all player access."

"Wow! Really? But that's where you get the Fog Badge isn't it?"

"I know, right! What makes it even weirder is that the admin is keeping so hush-hush about it. There hasn't been any update as to what's happening. Something really weird is going on here..."

"Do you think they're planning another event?"

"I don't think so, it's too suspicious, if you ask me. When I asked them about the whole thing with the boat, they shot down my questions so fast, you'd think they were reading from a script."

"30 Minutes till this server goes offline."

She looked up at the PA in the PokeCenter and closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Oh no...that's the last thing we need right now...god knows what's going to happen to Janus and me when the update rolls around," she shook her head, Seki and Latias looked at her softly.

(Why? Is that something bad?) Latias tilted her head slightly. Seki seemed to catch Cassies drift though and frowned.

(She doesn't know what's going to happen with the forced logout...especially since she can't log out.) Seki sighed softly. Latias blinked then looked at Cassie with a blink and gave a soft apologetic noise.

(Well...maybe it won't be so bad, right?) Latias smiled reassuredly at Cassie. Cassie looked at her and gave a soft weak smile in return before she closed her eyes and sank into the chair she was in.

* * *

Janus sighed and looked out of the center at the rainy streets, then back at Blaze.

"Well Blaze, what'dya think?" he asked before looking back out at the street. A noncommittal grunt was the reply he got.

"Yeah, I think we're pretty damn screwed too," He sighed softly and closed his eyes before he turned and moved back into the center. He flopped into a one of the waiting seats, Blaze moving in front of him and curling up, his tail illuminating the whole of the area around them. Janus sighed after a moment and looked at his hands for a moment then blinked and sat up.

"Master balls huh?" He looked thoughtfully at his hands for a moment before he looked outside pursing his lips tightly.

"Blaze, what adventures have we had together?" He looked at the dragon that looked back at him curiously, "Mew told me I was missing some of my memories, but I don't think I'm forgetting anything."

He closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift idly then looked at Blaze thoughtfully almost worriedly.

"It's disheartening to be told you're forgetting something and you don't know what it is you're forgetting," He rubbed his temples and sank in the chair a little. Blaze shifted and moved his head into Janus' lap, giving him a comforting nudge. Janus couldn't help but chuckle, smiling down at him and affectionately stroking the dragons head.

"Thanks Blaze," He sighed and closed his eyes. He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared. He bowed his head and closed his eyes.

"Mew, I hope you picked the right person for this job."

* * *

"25 Minutes till this server shuts down."

Shidanki sighed sharply as she exited the pokemart, Rainy and MC behind her still, and looked up at the sky as black clouds began to roll in towards the port town from over the ocean.

"Wow, those new weather effects are really something huh?" Rainy smiled looking up at the sky. Shidanki stopped and looked at the sky and her frown deepened. The world became slightly ethereal. The rain was pouring down in the ocean, but the sun shown brightly through the clouds despite their black nature.

"It's almost...real isn't it?" MC blinked up at it and turned his head at the sound of running feet, "H-hey, Shidanki, wait up!"

Rainy and MC tore off after her.

* * *

"19 minutes till this server shuts down, please log out now."

The voice was ignored though. Cassie was looking outside curiously at a crash of thunder.

"It's really coming down out there isn't it?" She asked herself absently. Latias and Seki stared out at it and blinked. Latias seemed to pale.

(Oh no...they're here...oh no) Seki murmured under her breath. Cassie blinked at the small pokemon curiously.

"They who, Seki, what do you mean?" The little pokemon began to wriggle out of Latias arms. She jumped up onto the table and looked stood up against the window looking outside anxiously.

(Two legendaries, only they could cause this haphazard mess.) Seki continued to look out the window, anxiously turning her head this way and that. Cassie was about to ask more when an explosion hit the city. She bolted up right and pressed up against the glass, her eyes widening at the sight of glowing blue lines in the midst of a cloud of dust. A roar echoed out through the city and the dust cleared and made way for a Hyper Beam that went careening through the air towards the ocean.

"What's going on out there!?" curious spectators were pressed up against the glass. The voice over the intercom wasn't heard this time. All the trainers were curiously and excitedly gathering around and outside the buildings to watch the mayhem. Cassie started panicking.

"We have to get everyone out of here now!" She watched the spectacle. The giant pokemon seemed to wait for a long moment, staring out over the ocean, it's eyes were glowing dangerously as the lines on its body. Groudon roared again.

"Dude we gotta go out there and catch that thing!" a few trainers cried out in agreement and ran outside. Cassie blinked and smacked her forehead.

Groudon ran forwards and let out a roar as Kyogre leapt free of the water a geyser of water shooting out of the ocean around it. The spectacle was thrilling though frightening to watch. Another roar and the ground began to shake, Groudon was using Earthquake. The move was devastating, buildings began to shake apart under the strain of movement, the power grid began to fail and the pokecenter was doused in darkness. Cassie looked around her worriedly. People were muttering fearfully, this was a game to them, but it was getting a little too real. There were blips of light as people started to log out.

Cassie looked back at them then up at the fight, she chewed on her bottom lip nervously. Latias nearby grabbed her shoulder and shook it.

(We have to get out of here Cassie; it's not safe for us anymore!) Cassie turned and looked at Latias then nodded and started running through the center, trying to get out of the town.

The players, who ran outside, were either just logging out, or had been deleted. A wave rose up from the ocean and slammed into the port, as Groudon shot another Solar Beam through it. The strike hitting Kyogre, but only seemed to make it angrier as it retaliated violently with a Hyropump. Cassie had never witnessed a fight like this before in the game. It was intense, it was captivating. Latias grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

* * *

The lights on the world map lit up all along the coast of Hoenn region. The administration scrambled.

"We have a report of a large scale attack on Hoenn, the weather harmonics are off the charts and completely unstable!" an admin shouted as her hands flew over a keyboard.

"We have fourteen injuries caused by the backlash to our administrative team in the America headquarters." Another nearby staring at a screen and in shock as message after message began flooding in.

"When does that server shutdown?!" Head Administer Greeves glare down at his staff. This wasn't something he could deal with casually and give the top brass the thumbs up.

"Five minutes, sir!"

"Hurry it up, we can't have our players being hurt anymore by these things," He paced in place and bit his bottom lip. If this got out they'd be in trouble.

"Get me a list of all injured players and admins, I want a full list in front of me ASAP!"

* * *

Cassie let out a shriek and stumbled to the ground, and held onto it for dear life as it up heaved and shook maniacally. The world had become a war zone to the two dueling behemoths of the land and sea. Latias came around and lifted Cassie up off the ground and helped her up onto her back looking over her shoulder.

(Hang on tight you two...the only path out of here is through the two of them.)

Cassie nodded and shut her eyes tightly, and gripped her arms around Latias and Seki. Groudon let out a roar and its lines began to pulse, Kyogre, sensing the change, began to do the same, their eyes narrowed in on each other. The ground began to shake and crack, pushing and heaving into the air. Latias dodged this way and that trying to maneuver around the mini mountains. A fissure appeared in the ground and hot steaming air blasted under them. Latias went reeling; Cassie held on tighter, her eyes shut tightly as she tried not to yell.

Cassie blinked when her PokeNav started to vibrate and make noise at her waist. She looked down at it and noticed it glowing. The usual sign that an auto-logout was in effect, at once she felt panicked, unsure of what was going to happen to her if she was expunged from a game she couldn't log out from. There was a jolt to her and then he senses set themselves on fire as the game tried to eject her, but found it couldn't. She felt like she was being torn apart piece by piece. In that one moment, she let go of Latias and fell off of the pokemon.

She hit the ground hard, at least she thought she did, and her vision was doubling as she struggled to stay awake. She heard a roar and stared blankly up at the sky. She was moving again; maybe Latias had caught her before she hit the ground. The pain was subsiding finally and her vision was returning to normal. She noticed the ground had stopped shaking too.

(Are you alright, Cassie?)

Cassie blinked and looked up at the familiar voice. To her surprise Latios was carrying her; she looked around for Latias, the action making her vision swim for a moment.

"Wh-what happened?" She muttered to herself. There was another piercing roar in the air that immediately drew her attention. Her eyes widened at the sight of Rayquaza hovering still in the clouds, looking down at the receding forms of the two quarrelling behemoths.

* * *

Shidanki tapped a foot against the ground lightly, running her tongue over her teeth as she watched Rayquaza in the sky. She sighed deeply; the administration would arrive in a matter of moments to mop up this mess.

"Hmph, well Porygon, looks like we've really got our work cut out for us to try and fix this mess," She pursed her lips and looked down at the pokemon next to her. The Porygon looked back up at her expectantly. Shidanki smirked at that.

"Yes, I do appreciate all the hard work you put in recently, I promise we'll," She looked down at two unconscious forms next to her, "And our stow-a-ways."

She sighed sharply, things were getting complicated. Porygon beeped at holding her attention and fixing her with a slight glare. She folded her arms chewing her lip thoughtfully for a moment before nodding.

"I guess you have a point. Can't really leave them here..." she grunted and scratched the back of her head, "If it wasn't for you prickling my conscience I'd sooner leave them here, though I guess it is our fault they're here to begin with..."

Porygon gave another indignant noise looking up at her slightly hurt.

"Ugh…fine, I admit, me, this is _all,_ my fault. Rub it in why don't you?" She moved over to look at the two other trainers. After a few moments, a pokeball at her waist opened, releasing a green bird like creature with white wings. Shidanki looked up at the Xatu with a surprised blink.

"Laplace? What's gotten into yo-" she wouldn't be able to finish though. The pokemons eyes began to glow brightly before the four of them vanished from the spot.

**A/N:** Well, there you have it, some more playful cliffs to look over the edge of. XD Look forward to more in the next chapter with some interesting twists and turns hopefully. Until next time, this is your designated author in this adventure, signing off. Read and review at your leisure. Over all though just sit back and enjoy the ride.


	14. Ch 10: Reality Rush

**A/N**: Wow! What's this make now? Like...3 consecutive updates in a row? XDXD Have fun with this one dear readers. :) As always, read and review at your leisure. More than that, just enjoy the fic. I'll see you all again in another week.

**Chapter 10: Reality Rush**

Jet, or rather, Kent, as that was who he really was, sat back in his chair. He mulled over the server wide shutdown.

"Sounds like a load of crap honestly," He sighed and rubbed his eyes after removing his goggles. He looked around his room thoughtfully. Spying his cell phone he stared at it thoughtfully before picking it up and searching through his contact list. He'd meant to do this in game, but he might as well do it now.

The phone rang, and rang, but no answer came to its beck and call.

"Hey, you've reached Justin, sorry but I'm unable to answer my phone right now, if you leave your name an-" Kent sighed and hung up his phone staring intently at the computer screen. His face slowly turned to a frown as he opened up a new window and began typing.

"Guess now's as good a time as any to do my homework."

* * *

Shidanki lurched forwards when she hit the floor of her headquarters, slamming her fist into it sharply. It took her mind off her reeling stomach at least as she glared up at Laplace who continued to stare mutely off into space.

"Dammit Laplace, I wasn't ready for that!" She shouted. If the pokemon heard her, it didn't respond. That just made her more agitated at its behavior. She took a deep breath trying to calm her self down. Closing her eyes and readjusting her shades she turned and folded her hands behind her back.

"Some warning would be appreciated next time at least," she muttered before tossing out a pokeball, "C'mon out Hex, we got some guests who need a lift."

From the ball emerged a large Machamp. He grunted thoughtfully before reaching down and lifting up the two unconscious players. When Shidanki was certain they were in his arms she started walking further into the relatively small hideout.

"Why is it I always seem to get stuck with all the baggage. The boss isn't going to like that we dragged them along, Laplace."

"Dragged who along?" The voice was crisp, sharp, and directly behind Shidanki. She winced a little and sighed turning to look up at the figure standing behind her. Behind her stood a man in a white lab coat, but what set him apart from the others was a pair of hollow eyes resting tiredly behind rimless glasses. Shidanki never really knew how else to describe them. They were the one thing that separated him from the other hackers. True enough her own eyes held her own little secret, but the eyes of that man were an enigma to her. She always wondered what secrets lay behind them.

"Er...some trainers sir...they were locked out of the auto-logout with me thanks to Porygon, but I don't know what happened to them. I guess they got overloaded by the system shock..." She sighed deeply. The man moved over towards the unconscious pair.

"Interesting...quite interesting...Lets give them some proper accomodations. I wish to investigate them more," the smile spread further across his face. It unsettled her the way his eyes seemed to light up. What unsettled her more was the feeling that she was being watched by him even as he started walking away. She sighed and put her hands on her hips looking at the pair.

"Oh and Shidanki..." His voice bit into her, causing her to wince slightly, "This is the fourth time you've disappointed me in the last week, I'd hate for you to foul up one more time."

She stared after him, biting her tongue. Her eyes narrowed when he was gone before she turned, stopping to find Laplace was staring at her. Then it felt like the weight of the world just came crashing onto her back as realization dawned on her.

"Shit...he knows..."

* * *

Cassie sighed and slumped against Latios. She shut her eyes tightly, the world around her was starting to swim again.

"Ugh, my head..." she groaned, leaning forwards and taking a deep shaking breath.

(Are you okay Cassie?) Latios asked looking down at her worriedly. She shook her head and let out a little whimper.

"My body feels like it was being torn apart," She hugged her arms around herself tightly. Latios sighed and rested a comforting claw on her shoulder.

(You're alright now though. Right?) He offered her a weak smile. She knew she wasn't alright. Something was wrong with her. She couldn't log out, and she couldn't get away from the madness of this game. It wouldn't be long before the administration caught up with her. Her eyes flew open at that thought.

"That admin...we have to get them to help us!" She stumbled to her feet, catching herself on the wrecked wall of a building, "They'll be here soon no doubt, before then we have to find Seki and Latias."

Latios watched her move off for a moment before nodding.

(Cassie, why don't you rest here, you're not in the best condition to be walking around right now.) He moved up next to her, urging her to sit back down. Cassie grunted and nodded.

"I hate to admit it Latios, but you're right..." She felt like a ton of bricks was resting on her shoulders, "Thank you, Latios."

(Hey, someone has to look out for you humans right?) He laughed softly (You just sit right there, I'll be back for you shortly.)

Cassie watched as Latios scooted away from her. When he was gone out of sight, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander. Her thoughts shifted to Janus, and she briefly wondered if he was alright.

"When is someone going to tell me what the heck is happening around her?" she found herself asking no one in particular, "An explanation. A note saying, 'Everything will be alright, Cassie.' Anything is better than this nervous anticipation I'm feeling."

She curled her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly.

"I want to go home."

* * *

MC groaned and pushed himself up. He was lying in a cot in a small room. There was the sound of metal hitting metal as he shifted, and he looked down to find his ankle chained to a metal post. The manacle around his ankle beeped loudly as if in response.

"Good, you're awake," A voice said next to him. He looked up to find himself staring into the eyes of young woman. It took him a moment to realize it was Shidanki, and that her eyes held a strange marking in them. A rectangular box bisected by a lightning bolt.

"So...you're a hacker, huh?" He asked, giving her a flat look. Shidanki looked down at him, her eyes illuminating slightly in the dark of the room.

"Yeah...what of it?" she folded her arms and glared down at him. He could feel himself shrink back a little before sighing and lying back down into the cot.

"What just happened?" He finally asked.

"Near as I can tell, you should have been logged out automatically, but thanks to Porygon you were blocked..."

"How?"

"Porygon ran a jammer program I had him installed with, it blocks the auto-logout from kicking you back into your body. It doesn't block the pain of being ripped back into your body forcefully though," She paused and turned away, "Guess it's something neither of you are used to, so you passed out. That's my take on the situation at least. It could also have been from that stray Hyper Beam that collided with us."

MC rubbed at his eyes chewing on his words carefully.

"So that really wasn't an event then, was it?"

"Nope, I was merely after the Seki your ditzy friend there was holding," She jerked her thumb at another cot where Rainy was passed out still.

"Hmph, figures," He pursed his lips again, turning away from Shidanki. She put her hands on her hips and stared at him.

"You know, you're taking near deletion and the possibility of being comatose for the rest of your life rather calmly," she raised an eyebrow. When she didn't get a response from him she huffed sharply and turned, leaving the room, the door slamming in her wake. The slam was enough to jolt Rainy awake from her sleep, and she slowly rose up from the cot and looked around.

"MC?"

"Over here Rainy," He sighed deeply. She smiled when she saw him.

"Oh good," She looked at her ankle and the manacle around it, "Er...this may seem like a strange question but where are we?"

He looked at her and shook his head.

"Dunno really, but I'm sure it's somewhere we don't want to be right now."

* * *

(Cassie...Cassie wake up)

Cassie grunted and opened her eyes. Latios was looking at her worriedly.

"What's wrong?" She asked, confusion marking her face.

(I can't find Seki or Latias.) He said frantically (I've looked everywhere, but I can't find either one of them.)

"What?!" She started to get up, "Are you sure? Positive you couldn't find even a clue to where they are?"

(No...not even a little, and...I can't feel Latias.) He seemed distraught, tears swelling up in his eyes (I can't feel her in the back of my mind anymore, not even a whisper of her prescence.)

"Oh no," She put a hugged her arms around herself tightly, "C'mon, I'll help you search, maybe we can find something."

"I wouldn't try going anywhere if I were you, girly!" A voice called out form behind her. Cassie stopped and turned, her eyes going wide at the when she saw several players standing behind her. A man standing in front of the others raised his hand, pointing at them.

"Sorry, but rules are rules, and you've been caught breeching the terms of service," He sighed, "Make this easy on yourself and just log out now."

Cassie felt her heart hit her throat.

* * *

The door to the tiny room opened. The man in the lab coat stood there staring at the two trainers inside thoughtfully. MC made note of his eyes first, hollow and empty with a cold edge.

"I do apologize for keeping you waiting so long," He grinned at them. It was that same grin that set Rainy's teeth on edge almost instantly.

"Who are you?" She asked finally, her eyes locking onto his when they turned her way. She squirmed a little under the stare.

"I am known as Namegi, and you're guests in my little home," He turned and started to walk away, "Come I'd like to show you around."

MC gave him a flat look.

"Not exactly easy to do when you've chained us to these cots," He said under his breath. The man turned his head just enough to look at them, his ever present smile growing across his face.

"What chains?" He asked, savoring their surprised reactions when the two noticed their manacles and chains were missing. He laughed and started to walk again. MC and Rainy shared a look with each other before slowly following after the man. Namegi led the two of them to a larger room where several other players sat in front of computers typing away. A large screen sat on a wall with a map of each server. Hoenn's coast was currently pulsing with red, blue and green lights that seemed to be slowly growing apart from each other. There were several other lights moving around, some sitting in place, each a different color.

"Welcome to the nerve center of the Circuit Breakers," He said turning to face the two of them, "What you're seeing right now is a map of this digital world. I've been tracking the path of the legendaries that have been loosed onto this world recently. Truth be told it's my fault they're out there."

MC and Rainy looked at the man with wide eyes. He looked back at them, for once his smile fading.

"I know it seems strange of me to say this, but I've made a terrible, terrible error," He sighed, "I honestly never meant for them to get out. I realized it in the middle of writing the code that their powers were far too strong for any one trainer to keep in check. I wish to apologize personally for what happened to you back in Hoenn."

"Where is this place exactly?" MC asked Namegi thoughtfully.

"Currently? We're in transit from the Johto server to the Imayou server, this place is a hub of sorts. It acts as a way point for all of my agents," He sighed.

"But why? Isn't the Imayou server shut down right now?" Rainy stared at the screen thoughtfully.

"Yes, technically, but there's someone there I need help locating. The auto-logout kicked many of my agents off the server, and not many of them have the necessary skills needed to get back into the game," he looked at Rainy and MC thoughtfully, "That's precisely why I need your help right now. A player by the name of Janus is on that island right now, and he has in his possession a program created by the administration to capture the rogue legendaries. I need you to convince him to help us in our cause of recapturing them. If he can lend us that program, I might be able to replicate it and give it to other trustworthy trainers who may help me in my efforts to right this terrible wrong."

"But what's that have to do with us? I mean why do you need our help doing this?" MC folded his arms staring at Namegi. Namegi looked back at him.

"I'm strapped, I could do it myself, but I fear he may be uncooperative seeing as I'm a hacker. Our ilk have made a name for ourselves, that's why I need competent trainers like yourselves who are untainted by hacking to go and talk to him," Namegi sighed deeply, "Please, you must help me before anyone else gets hurt."

Rainy and MC shared another look before looking back at Namegi. Rainy nodded.

"I'm in, I'm not sure if we'll succeed, but I'm willing to do what I can to help," She smiled. MC looked at her, he didn't trust this man at all. Something felt off, but the facts were there, Legendaries were on the loose and they were threatening players all over. They had to help the best they could.

"Fine...but I'm a bit apprehensive about this, I just have a few questions I'd like to straighten out first," He muttered. Namegi nodded enthusiastically.


	15. Ch 11: Red Determination

**A/N: **Meant to have this up yesterday, sorry for the prolonged wait faithful readers. Starting to really get back into the swing of writing. I'm even thinking of re writing some of the earlier chapters too...Hmm...anyways. Enjoy.

**Chapter 11: Red Determination**

"You have to believe me! I can't log out!" Cassie pleaded. She held her hands up slowly edging her way backwards from the administrators.

"I'm sure that's nothing a little deleting couldn't fix," One of them chided, glaring at her, "You and your kind never seem to learn. You just take, and take, and do what you like with no regards to those around you."

"Gerad..." Another admin said calmly to the other, "She seems sincere."

"No, Flex! These monsters were unleashed because they didn't want to play by the rules!" Gerad screamed pointing accusingly at Cassie, "Now we're taking the flak both in-game and out because of it!"

"What if she's not responsible though? Innocent until proven guilty, Gerad," Flex folded his arms, "Besides, she might know something; we should at least hear her out."

"Innocent?! She's standing here with one of those things!" Gerad spat out, pointing at Latios, "What more proof do you need that she isn't innocent!?

"Please I just want to go home-" Cassie tried to interject, but Gerad wouldn't give her the chance.

"Be quiet you!" He shouted at her, clenching a fist and gritting his teeth, "This is all your fault!"

"No it's not!" Cassie shouted, tears forming around the edges of her eyes, "I didn't want any of this!"

"And I think you're full of it!" Gerad shouted, grabbing his admin badge and holding it up in front of himself.

"What're you doing? Stop!" Flex cried out. Cassie cringed away, shutting her eyes tightly and throwing her arms in front of her face. She was going to be deleted, and there was nothing she could say or do to stop it from happening. A gust of wind caught her attention followed by a flash of blinding light. Cassie let out a cry of surprise opening her eyes to find Latios floating between her and the administrators.

(Cassie! Run away and get to safety!) Latios cried out (I'll hold them off as long as I can!)

She stared at him a moment, taking a step forwards but he gave her a sharp shove, the blinding light of his LusterPurge beginning to fade, Cassie stumbling step backwards almost numbly.

(Just go! I'll be alright.)

He turned his attention back to the admin who were rubbing their eyes. Cassie resigned herself with remorse, turning and running away from them. Gerad cracked an eye in time to see her fleeing, flashing Flex an angry glare.

"You should have just let me delete her...Flex," he growled deep in his throat grabbing at a pokeball at his waist. Flex sighed deeply and did the same regretfully.

* * *

Janus struggled to pull himself back up to his feet. He felt like he had just been torn limb from limb and pieced back together through a straw.

"Blaze, remind me to never break rules ever again," He groaned and coughed several times. Blaze gave him a worried look before helping his trainer steady himself on his feet. The world outside had calmed down finally, but the auto-logout had left Janus unconscious for the better half of an hour. The rest of that time was being spent coughing up a lung and wishing he had never set foot in this digital world. He picked up his PokeNav wanting to check on Cassie and make sure she was alright before he remembered he'd broken the device. He tossed it to the floor in agitation, before he headed for the door, Blaze following closely behind him.

"C'mon pal, we'd better get moving. There's gotta be a way off this island," He muttered. Blaze nodded as the two left the center. It was still overcast, but at least it wasn't raining as bad as it had been. Lightning cracked across the sky, and thunder roared ominously as Janus made his way down the road. In the distance he could make out a faint shape rising up and over the mountains in the west. He stopped and stared openly at the towering spire.

He didn't remember there ever being a tower of that proportion jutting over those mountains. Biting his lip he stared at the underbrush and the trees in his way.

"Well then," He said to himself as he folded his arms, turning in the direction of the tower, "Me thinks the path has been chosen for us, Blaze."

Blaze stared at the mountains and offered a grunt in reply. Janus laughed softly and rested a hand on his partners' side.

"Yeah, it's putting me on edge too," He sighed softly. He took a deep breath and then stepped forwards.

"I don't really think this is the intended path for trainers, but sometimes you need to take the road less traveled by, or so I'm told," He let out a chuckle and grinned. Blaze gave him another grunt and nudged his back softly. Janus looked at Blaze for a moment when the dragon turned and offered its back to him. He just smiled softly.

"Thanks Blaze," He sighed and looked back at the mountain where dangerous clouds had gathered, "But I'm not about to have you fly through that mess. You could seriously get hurt, and I'm not that adept at using a pokemon center."

Blaze sank a little, but brightened when Janus gave him an affectionate pat on the snout.

"S'alright partner, I know you just want to help," He smiled brightly, "But we're on a mission here, and I'm going to need you at your best."

He smiled and started walking off the path, the trainer and his companion leaving a trail of trampled and burnt underbrush in their wake.

* * *

Cassie was running, before she knew what had happened, she was running for her life from the admins. Her lungs and her legs were burning, but she didn't care anymore. This was more than just adrenaline; this was the need to survive. In the moment between fight-or-flight, she had found herself frozen in terror. If it hadn't been for Latios screaming at her before leaping in the path of the administrators, her mind might have made its decision too little too late. She wasn't ready to go out just yet, and she couldn't let Latios sacrifice himself for her sake only to be caught.

A howl pierced the air behind her. Terror gripped her lungs and tightened around them like a vice causing her blood to pound in her ears. She started to cry, she didn't know how much longer she could keep up her pace. Already her body was straining, she had never been the most athletic person in the world. Game or no, there were limits in this world and she'd just run smack dab into her personal wall. She slowed to a stop clutching at her chest trying to will her body to last just a little longer.

She fell to her knees, exhausted; her only options left now were to wait or run. She punched the ground. She didn't want to give up. Her body had to last just a little longer. There had to be something up ahead of her that'd give her an edge in the situation. She tried to push herself back to her feet. Her legs strained against her will. Eventually she won out though, and in no time she was running again.

She found herself hoping for a miracle, for someone to wake her up from this nightmare and tell her it was all some terrible dream. She'd give anything for someone to come whisk her away from this terrible place. In the midst of her day dreaming she stumbled over a dip in the road, and fell. Her legs felt like rubber.

"She can't be too far ahead!" A voice behind her called out, she looked around frantically. There was one path ahead of her, but she didn't have the strength to pull herself back to her feet again; going into any of the surrounding buildings would have surely led her to a dead end as well. The situation was fast becoming hopeless.

"You three circle around! See if you can cut her off!"

Waiting was the only thing she could do now. Her legs had become useless to her. They refused to carry her any further from this point on. Flight had failed her. All she could do was wait for the admin to arrive and delete her, leaving her to the unknown fate that was left for her.

"This can't be all I have left in me," She hissed, tears streaming from her eyes. Some festering seed of hope refused to let her give in. There was still another option. She pushed herself back to her feet, some form of courage lifting her up as she turned to face her pursuers, her legs shaking underneath her. She wiped the tears from her eyes. Blind determination replaced fear as she grabbed the pokeball at her waist.

"Flygon! I choose you!" Despite the hopelessness of her situation, she still had the strength to fight. She couldn't accept defeat just yet. Whatever was waiting for her beyond this would just have to keep waiting.

* * *

"Didn't know something like this could exist," Rainy said leaning over the railing of the airship to stare at the clouds that rolled by beneath them, "How is it the Admin haven't shut this thing down yet?"

"Dunno, but I'm beginning to wonder if the admin is as competent as they claim to be," MC sighed deeply and leaned back against the railing. Rainy rested her chin on the railing and echoed his sigh.

"You know after we land, I think I'm going to log off for the night..." She muttered, "As much as I want to see this through, I have school in the morning."

"Oh...Okay, I'm going to see what I can do before I have to go myself, work in a few hours and all."

"Hopefully by the time I get back the servers will be up and running again," She smiled.

"Speaking of, how is it we're still online anyways, shouldn't we have been booted off by now?"

"That's easy enough to answer," A voice said behind them. MC turned and stared at Shidanki who was standing in the doorway looking at the two of them, "Firstly, when the auto-boot function was activated-"

"Porygon ran that jammer program, yeah, you mentioned that, but what's stopping them from booting us here manually?" MC

"I'm getting to that," Shidanki rolled her eyes and looked off, "Namegi, though he may not seem like it, is a capable hacker. He's got us constantly masked from the admin, don't ask me how he does it, I never really figured it out. That's not to say I haven't tried though."

"Well, if he's so capable, why does he even need help then?" Rainy piped in, "Seems kind of silly to me."

"Again, I dunno, probably 'cause he's got too much ego to do things himself. Thinks it's beneath him or something," Shidanki looked at her nails thoughtfully, "He told me to come and talk to the two of you, give you my handle for IRL and all that jazz."

"Why?" MC blinked at her.

"Well cause you're humans and you have human things to do, that don't involve gaming all day unlike some people," She shrugged, "There's also the possibility that when you log off, you won't be able to come back on and help him. I've already sent you an email from one of my dummy accounts you can reach me at. When you want back in, just email me there, and I'll make an opening for you."

"Why don't you just use your skills to do that for the rest of your members?" Rainy tilted her head to the side thoughtfully.

"To be honest, it's a pain in the ass, and we need some non-hacker help to do this, that's pretty much the long and the short of it."

"I see..." MC folded his arms and closed his eyes. Shidanki waved a hand and sighed deeply.

"Anyways, my meat body is hungry, so I'm going to go for a bit, just email me when you want in," with her final piece said she logged out. MC and Rainy sighed in unison.

"You ever feel like it's going to be one of those days?" Rainy asked. MC looked at her, before turning and looking out over the railing. He shrugged and closed his eyes leaning a little more over the edge so the wind whipped at his face a little more. Reality bites sometimes, and so far, virtual reality wasn't looking much better.

* * *

Cassie stood her ground looking ahead at the three admin in front of her. The fight was not going in her favor. She was fighting a three-on-one battle against the administration, that they hadn't already just flat out deleted her was surprise enough to her. She was already three pokemon down with only two remaining in her reserves.

"Are you ready to give up, miss hacker?" Gerad said, he smirked as his Salamance roared loudly. She grabbed at her pokeballs and felt her pulse starting to race again. Three fainted pokemon, all she had left was her Flygon, Pidgeotto and a Ralts. Though the former two had been with her forever, the latter was still a novice and low level. Not to mention that Flygon wasn't in a better condition. Once those Flygon was fainted, she'd have little in the way of power.

"Ralts! Pidgeotto!" She tossed the two pokeballs out. Both of them exploded into light leaving the two pokemon out in front of her. The opposing trainers smirked.

"Have it your way. Salamance! Use your DragonBreath on that Flygon and finish it off!"

"Flareon torch that Ralts with a Flamethrower!"

"Golem! Use RockThrow!"

"Flygon use Dig under that Golem! Ralts dodge with Double Team! Pidgeotto copy that Salamance with MirrorMove!!"

Flygon dove under the DragonBreath, digging under the ground quickly, it's fleeting tail wiggling quickly behind it. As Salamance attack missed Pidgeotto, swooped down, quickly swirling around the flames of Salamance, firing off her own right back at the Dragon scorching its scales, before she was brought down by the boulder Golem had thrown. Flareon let out a cry as it opened its mouth, sending its own flames swirling towards poor Ralts who, despite its best efforts, was unable to dodge the experienced Flareons fire letting out a cry as it was scorched into unconsciousness.

"Ralts return!" she gave a pitying look, at the pokeball once the pokemon had returned, "Sorry Ralts, I shouldn't have done that to you."

She looked up at Pidgeotto who was struggling to get back into the air. She closed her eyes tightly, her team was failing her. No, that was wrong, she was failing them. She was putting up a desperate one sided battle against three other trainers who weren't about to play by the rules for her sake. She closed her eyes tightly as Flygon rose out of ground with a fierce head butt to the Golem, knocking it unconscious with the strike. Unfortunately for poor Flygon a trap had been set by the other trainers already, as Salamance reared its head back and let loose another bout of DragonBreath. Along with its previous wounds Flygon collapsed, struggling despite its wounds to keep standing. Cassie brought out her pokeball recalling Flygon.

(I'm sorry Cassie. I couldn't keep you safe...) Flygon said as he was withdrawn back into the ball. The voice hit her heart, causing tears to sting her eyes. Pidgeotto wasn't looking any better, and Cassie was prepared to recall her.

(Don't even think about it Cassie, I still have the strength to fight!) She shouted at her trainer (Stop acting like it's the end Cassie!)

"That makes five pokemon so far, and your last one looks like it's in the red, are you ready to give up hacker?" Gerad folded his arms and looked at her with contempt, "This is your last chance."

Cassie grit her teeth and shut her eyes tightly.

"I'm sorry Pidgeotto..."

* * *

Seki groaned. Her world was out of focus and wet. To top things off she was pinned under something heavy and, from what she could tell, red.

(Latias?) she asked. Nothing came from the other pokemon but soft breathing. Seki gave her a flat before she wiggled herself free from the other looking around to gain her bearings. They were inside what looked like the shell of a building. A drop of water bounced off her nose from above drawing her attention up to a hole in the roof.

(Hrf...guess now I know how we got in here.) She sighed deeply and shook herself dry. She looked around making note that Cassie was not with them. A cry from outside caught her attention, making her stare at the collapsed entrance of the building for a moment. She faintly heard words filtering in through the silence around her.

"Ready to give up hacker? You're still able to logout," One voice said smugly.

"I'm sorry Pidgeotto..." Another said sadly. She recognized it as Cassies. She moved towards the fallen entrance and peered through a crack. She couldn't see very well but it looked like the administration had finally caught up to Cassie. She huffed, while part of her didn't care much for the human, she felt a sense of pity rise up in her for Cassie. She watched for a moment as the administrators ordered the final attack against Cassie. Before she even knew what she was doing Seki was on the move, a soft glow beginning to pour over her.

* * *

Cassie stared ahead of her, without any provocation the entrance to a building off tot eh side burst apart. A rainbow colored beam of energy flew out of the smoke and slammed into Salamance sharply, fainting it almost instantly.

"What the heck?!" Gerad shouted turning to look at the source of the attack. Cassie was shocked when she saw a blue and white figure leap out of the smoke and circle its way around in front of her, glaring ahead at the administrators. Cassie stared openly.

"S...Seki?" She asked tentatively. The pokemon looked over its shoulder at her, seeming to smirk.

(Don't tell me you're already giving up after your pokemon have battled for you so fiercely, Cassie.) the pokemon replied before turning its attention back to their opponents (Show me the same determination and strength your pokemon share.)

Cassie didn't know what to say, she wiped the tears from her eyes, a smile growing steadily across her face as her confidence restored itself.

(Thank you Suicune...) Pidgeotto said, looking at Suicune with a tired smile.

(Don't thank me just yet Pidgeotto. We've still got a tough battle ahead of us...) Suicune glared at Gerad, as he pulled out his next pokemon.

"If they won't listen to reason, we'll just have to beat it into them!" She stepped forwards and glared at the administrators in kind.

* * *

Janus pulled himself up onto the next ledge and rolled onto his back, panting heavily. He mentally noted that maybe there was a reason for roads and that perhaps the less traveled road wasn't really the proper term for the path he had just taken. About three hours ago he and Blaze had finally made it to the base of the mountain. He spent thirty minutes walking along the base of it trying to find a proper path before giving up and deciding to climb up said mountain side by hand. He let out a heavy sigh, and sat up looking at Blaze who crested over the edge and peered at him curiously.

"You know...I think this would be a good spot to rest at for now Blaze, don't you think?" He asked. Blaze grunted, and nodded affirmatively before pulling itself up and curling up around Janus almost protectively. Janus chuckled and smiled, settling against Blaze's ribs and wrapping his arms around himself in an effort to stay warm. He was really beginning to miss his jacket.

"I wonder if Cassie is alright..." He looked off thoughtfully over the ledge, his eyes slowly panning up to the dark clouds above that continued to rumble threateningly at him, "Come to think of it, I wonder if I'm alright, it's been a little over half a day almost and I still don't even know what happened to my real life body..."

Blaze grunted and turned his tail in towards Janus carefully. His trainer smiled at the gesture, yawned and stretched languidly, before nestling himself comfortably against the dragon.

"Thanks Blaze," He muttered as he started to nod off. His thoughts turning to his home, where he hoped his parents weren't too worried about him.


	16. Ch 12: Dilemma of Dreams

**A/N:** Sorry for that friends. I meant to have this up yesterday, but I was a bit of a stick in the mud and suffering from an allergy attack. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. More meat less potatoe as they say. :) Is it just me or are these chapters are also getting longer and longer with each one. Honestly they're too much fun to write. As always, read to enjoy and review at your leisure. See you next week with teh next installment. :)

**Chapter 12: Dilemma of Dreams**

"You're very lucky Mr. and Mrs. Espen, any longer and I don't think we'd have been able to help him," Doctor Emilo Eiu was an aged man who had seen a lot in his time, but as he looked over the charts of the young boy who'd been brought in, he found himself frowning deeply as he walked into the waiting area. The two parents were standing

"What's wrong with him doctor, why isn't he waking up?" Mr. Espen asked. The doctor tried not to show it, but he couldn't hide his concerned expression.

"Before we can properly diagnose him we need to put him through some examinations, test his physical reflexes and reactions, as well as an EEG, a PET, and a MRI."

"Whatever you need to do Doctor Eiu," Mrs. Espen looked at her husband for a moment, "Please just, don't take any longer than you have to."

* * *

Flex and one of the other low level admins were coming around from an alternate path. They'd gone to cut her off, but when the sound of fighting reached them they stood their ground.

"Damn, I was hoping we'd reach her first," Flex sighed sharply pulling out his Squawkbox, turning to look at the other admin, "Hey newbie, stay here and don't move, got it?"

"R-right, sure thing," the rookie gave an awkward salute to Flex. Flex just rolled his eyes as he started running back in the opposite direction towards the sounds of the fighting.

"This is Sapphire 3 with clean and sweep team from the Hoenn, site B. We've encountered a hacker using legendaries. I've emailing her Trainer ID number and information for box lockout," Flex said into the little box, it crackled before a voice on the other end responded.

"Confirmed Sapphire 3, we'll run a check on noted player and manually shutdown all box operations, engage and subdue for questioning," the voice responded coolly.

"Understood. Sapphire 3 over and out," Flex let out a sigh; he hated this part of being an admin. He was within sight of the hacker and the other admins, it seemed the hacker had pulled out a Suicune in his absence, but something seemed off about the situation. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but somewhere inside his gut was screaming at him.

"Sapphire 3 this is HQ, please respond!" The voice was deeper and more urgent this time. Flex stopped in his tracks and pulled up the Squawkbox again.

"This is Sapphire, HQ, go ahead."

"Repeat that ID number for us?"

Flex stared at the box and pulled up his pokenav, opening it and spouting out the trainer number he'd recorded from his earlier engagement with the hacker. There was a long pause afterwards that seemed to grate on his nerves.

"Sapphire 3, are you positive on that number?" The voice asked scrupulously.

"Absolutely, why?" Flex frowned. His gut instinct was screaming at him again.

"Do not engage, player is considered high priority. High level admin have been dispatched to deal with the situation personally. We cannot urge you enough, do not engage."

"Confirmed..." Flex stared at the box in confusion. After a moment he started to run again. If headquarters was marking her as high priority, then something was definitely up. It did nothing to ease his gut instinct from shouting at him for not asking more questions.

* * *

"Pidgeotto, use Fly!" Cassie pointed at her pokemon, who let out a cry as it soared high into the sky. Suicune, meanwhile unleashed a Hydropump on the opponents Flareon knocking it unconscious with the strike.

"Dammit!" Gerad spat out glaring at the other two with him, "Don't you have anything stronger?"

"No offense, sir, but that thing's got at least 20 levels on anything we can throw out. We can't fight something like that," one of them replied. Gerad glared at Cassie and stood up straight.

"Hmph, fine, I was hoping we'd be able to get some answers out of you, miss, but you just had to go and pull out the legendaries," Gerad glared at her.

"What?!" Cassie stamped a foot, "I would have been happy to answer your questions, but you wouldn't even give me the chance to explain myself!"

"Take note that the player refused to listen to reason," Gerad said out loud as he raised a hand and smirked. The other two admin looked at him confusedly.

"Sir?"

"You heard me!" Gerad glared at the other. Cassie backed up a step her eyes wide.

"Gerad, stop!" A voice shouted from behind Cassie. She turned and saw the other administrator running up behind her. Gerad looked at him sharply.

"Stop? Are you kidding me? You can't honestly still think of defending her, Flex!"

"HQ's orders, they've ordered us to disengage," Flex walked forwards. Suicune and Cassie shared a look.

"I think you're full of it!" Gerad shouted. Flex stood in front of Cassie and Suicune, barring Gerad from enacting their deletion.

"Well I'm not! They're sending someone in, and they should be here any moment. Disengage and stand down," Flex folded his arms. Gerad glared at him, debating weither it was really a bluff or not.

(Cassie, what should we do?) Suicune looked over her shoulder at Cassie. Cassie stood rooted to the spot, biting her bottom lip.

"I don't know, Suicune..." She muttered, and felt a wave of relief wash over her when Gerad folded his arms and turned his back to them.

"Whatever, Flex, but the second she steps out of line, I'm going to pick up right where I left off and delete her," He spat off to the side. Cassie's legs gave out from under her and she fell to her knees panting heavily. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath. Despite the cease fire though, Suicune and Pidgeotto refused to step out of the way from between her and the administrators.

"Thank you Pidgeotto, you too Suicune," Cassie sighed deeply and leaned back on her hands closing her eyes. She looked up at Flex as he took a step over to them.

"Miss...I'm sorry to ask this of you, but could you please wait here for my superior to arrive?" Flex asked her. Cassie looked at him and gave him a flat look.

"Yeah sure, unlike some people I'm willing to listen to others before making a judgment," She turned her head away, "Besides, not like I can go anywhere right now."

Flex sighed deeply and closed his eyes for a moment before crouching down and looking her in the eyes.

"Look, I'm not going to pretend we didn't make a bit of a rush judgment, please, I'm sorry, can I just ask you a few things?" He stared at her with a frown.

"What kind of things?" She raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Did you release the legendaries?"

"No," She looked at Pidgeotto as the bird came over and nested next to her protectively.

"Then why is it you're able to control them?" Suicune seemed to go rigid at the question turning and growling at the admin. Surprised by the act, he scuttled back a little.

(Control me? She doesn't control me you pompous-)

"It was just a question, Suicune..." She rolled her eyes and sighed looking back at, "To be honest, I don't control them...more like I'm working with them."

That wasn't something Flex was expecting to hear he sat down in front of her and leaned forwards a little.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked after a moment.

"It's a bit of a long story," She reached out thoughtfully and pet Pidgeotto. Flex stared at her for a moment then leaned back.

"Well, not like we don't have any time. Care to share the tale?"

Cassie stared at him for a moment then sighed deeply.

"Well you have me there. I guess it all started today in Imayou..."

* * *

"Here," Namegi said as he held out a small flash drive to MC and Rainy, "You can load this into your Pokenav."

"What's it for?" Rainy asked him curiously as she examined it in her hand curiously.

"It's Janus' player ID number, it'll allow you to load him onto your friend list and track his Pokenav location; it should give you a fairly accurate read of his location," Namegi shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at them coolly, "I know you're going to start your journey tomorrow, but I can't express how important this task is, please come back online the moment you can."

Rainy and MC nodded lightly as they loaded the program onto their pokenavs. The structured building shook sharply for a moment as it landed then a voice boomed over the intercom.

"Destination reached. Harvest Cove, of Imayou server."

"Looks like your stop, good luck," Namegi smiled at them before turning and walking back further into the ship.

"When we get back how will we get in contact with you?" MC asked. Namegi looked over his shoulder, his smile widening, showing off his stained and crooked teeth.

"Don't worry, I'll always be right over your shoulder."

* * *

Janus was floating on his back in the white walled world again, a trail of colors spilling out in his wake as he floated backwards.

"So am I going to come here every time I fall asleep then?" He asked the world around him.

"For the most part, it is your mind after all," The voice came from behind him, causing him to jump and flounder in the liquid white world for a moment. He finally calmed down enough to look up at Mew who was floating there laughing cheerfully at him.

"Hello again Janus," She smiled at him, "Sorry to bother you, I hope you don't mind."

"Not...really, more I'm just curious why you're talking to me here instead of in the waking world," He looked at her curiously. Mew seemed a little perturbed by the question backing up and looking around.

"Um, well...you see I um...can't," She looked off for a moment, stuttering a little, "N-not yet at least, I'll tell you why later. For now I have something I want to show you."

Mew darted away from him floating over to a hazy looking painting hovering in the air. He looked at the painting, wondering how he'd missed something that colorful in this world. He swam over to the painting and looked up at it. No matter how he looked at it, the painting stayed out of focus, almost as if the paints were shifting purposefully and preventing him from seeing it.

"Janus, do you know what this is?" Mew asked him when he was close enough. He stared at her then back at the painting before shaking his head.

"I don't think so, I can't even make it out, it's all...fuzzy and hard to focus on," He frowned. To his surprise Mew frowned as well.

"I was afraid of that, Janus," She looked at him guiltily, "Janus, I'm sorry but I think you may be in trouble."

Janus stared at her.

"Well, didn't you mention some of my memories were lost to Cassie?" He frowned a little. Mew bobbed up and down in reply.

"Yes, that's right, but, this is one of your partial memories," She looked back at the painting and sighed, "I was just hoping you'd be able to shed some light on it."

"Sorry Mew, I just...don't remember," He looked down and sighed deeply, Mew echoing him from next to the painting.

"That's okay Janus, it was a bit of a long shot anyways," She looked off. Janus rubbed his eyes, he could swear she was getting harder to focus on as well.

"There's something else Janus, someone's looking for yo...ware N...gi..." She said but the world sounded like he was underwater as everything began to fade to white around him, she was saying something but he couldn't make out the words anymore.

"What? Mew what're you saying? Who's looking for me!? Mew!" He reached out for her as she gave him a frantic and scared look as the world went from white to black rapidly. Janus was floating down, he was underwater again as it filled his ears, mouth, and nose, suffocating him. He screamed out, but the only thing that escaped his mouth were bubbles of thought that floated harmlessly away.

* * *

Kent leaned back in his chair causing it to squeak audibly in protest against the action. He rubbed his eyes and stared at the screen, his rough draft was almost completed, he just needed to type up the conclusion and he'd be set for tomorrow. The clock on his nightstand yelled at him, alerting him that he should have been in bed an hour ago. He sighed deeply and thought about half-assing the next few lines just to have something to show the teacher in class tomorrow.

"What do I care about MacBeth anyways?" He sighed leaning forwards again as he prepared to type. He was off to a good start when an unwarranted IM snuck onto his screen and ate half his words in the final sentence. He grunted out of annoyance as he deleted the words from the screen.

**Chchchia78:** Hi Jet.

**Chchchia78:** It's been a long time.

Kent stared at the screen before frowning deeply.

**AceSpeedster:** Didn't I block you?

**Chchchia78:** Don't be like that Jet.

**AceSpeedster:** I'm pretty sure I blocked you CH.

**Chchchia78:** Remember our great adventures together?

**AceSpeedster:** I try not to.

**Chchchia78:** Ouch.

**Chchchia78:** All the same. I have something for you.

**AceSpeedster:** aside from a headache this time I hope...

**Chchchia78:** Hahah yea-no. Just trying to give you a heads up.

**Chchchia78:** You know about what's going on with the administration right? How they've shut down the servers and such?

**AceSpeedster:** yeah what about it?

**Chchchia78:** Well just so happens' our boy got himself caught up in another pickle.

Kent gave pause for a moment and bit his lip, he knew he'd regret asking what Chia meant by that.

**AceSpeedster:** Okay, I'll bite. What do you mean?

**Chchchia78:** See I knew you wouldn't be able to resist helping him.

**AceSpeedster:** Yeah whatever.

**AceSpeedster:** I don't exactly have a lot of time to talk, I'm kinda working on a report here.

**Chchchia78:** Well hold off for a minute longer.

**Chchchia78:** Our boy has drawn the attention of someone in a bad way, you might remember him.

**Chchchia78:** He's the old leader of the Enigma group. You remember them right?

**AceSpeedster:** Enigma? I thought the administrators booted them all from the server years ago.

**Chchchia78:** Well they missed one.

**AceSpeedster:** What's he want with Janus?

**Chchchia78:** Janus is in possession of a Master Ball Program. Unlimited master balls that can capture anything; including, but not limited to, legendaries.

**AceSpeedster:** Why would Janus have something like that?

**Chchchia78:** You read the news lately?

**AceSpeedster:** ...

**Chchchia78:** Right, sorry I forget your age sometimes. Not enough time for such things right?

**Chchchia78:** I'll sum up. POL is in for a seven car pile up in the near future. Players are going comatose, and they don't know why. Parents are in an uproar, and the national headquarters is saying it's not their fault.

**Chchchia78:** I found a list of player names that's been leaked to the press by some mischief makers.

**Chchchia78:** Before you ask, no it wasn't me. I think people deserve privacy in such matters.

**AceSpeedster:** Oh of course, I'd never think you'd invade someones privacy. why would I ever think that?

**Chchchia78:** Look I needed to talk to you, cause Janus will listen to you, you're friends after all.

Kent sighed and rubbed his temples.

**AceSpeedster:** Yeah well, there's a reason we don't talk to you. You kind of used us CH.

**Chchchia78:** Yeah, well, I'm trying to make amends here. Our boys name is on the list.

That made Kent freeze.

**AceSpeedster:** Wait what?!

**Chchchia78:** You read me right. His IRL name is number 7 on the list of 78.

**AceSpeedster:** How the heck do you know his real name?

**Chchchia78:** It's kind of what I do, dear.

**AceSpeedster:** Right right, sorry, kinda getting tired.

**AceSpeedster:** If he's one of the 78 how is he online?

**Chchchia78:** I

**Chchchia78:** don't know...but it's not important. Whatever the reason, he's being hunted by our Enigma friend, Jet.

**Chchchia78 would like to send you a file; H:\PridelandsInc\**

**Chchchia78:** Here, I know you and he go way back. I don't think the servers are going to be going back up anytime soon. That should let you logon.

Kent stared at the file transfer. He didn't trust Chia, but he knew that he couldn't help but feel worried about his friend. Without another thought he accepted the transfer, despite his better judgement.

**AceSpeedster received file; H:\PridelandsInc\**

**Chchchia78:** I knew I could count on you Jet. I'll talk to you later.

**Chchchia78:** Good luck with your report.

**Chchchia78 has signed offline**

Kent continued to look at the conversation for a good five minutes after it had ended before he closed it and sighed deeply.

"Dammit, Jason, what mess did you get yourself into this time," He shook his head and finished the final sentence in his essay. He couldn't do much right now, but tomorrow was Friday at least. Then he'd have the weekend to find out what he could.

* * *

Janus sat up sharply with a gasp of fresh air and wide eyes. Either his dreams were becoming more and more realistic or this world wasn't meant for dreams.

"Haunthaunthaunt," The chilling laugh sent a shiver up his spine as he whirled around to find a Haunter sucking up what he could only assume to be the remnants of Blaze's dreams. He gave it an angry glare.

"Hey you, I was in the middle of a very important dream!" He shouted. The shout was enough to wake Blaze out of his slumber as he looked to find the source of all the yelling. He roared in response to Janus and their surprise guest.

"Haunter~" The pokemon chided shaking a fist at Janus much the same way the trainer was at it.

"Are you mocking me?!"

"Haunhaunt Haunter!?" It made a face and laughed several more times orbiting around the boys head sticking its tongue out at him. Janus fumed and gave the pokemon a glare.

"You're lucky I'm busy or I might just take you up on that offer, you little brat!" Janus stood up and stretched, "What was Mew trying to tell me...something about someone looking for me?"

Blaze stood up next to Janus and shook himself awake looking at the Haunter in the same annoyed way as its master, snorting a small spurt of flames at it in warning. The Haunter let out a cry and scooted out of the way of the fire, orbiting away from the dragon to hide behind Janus.

"Hey," He said, holding up his hands and giving the ghost a flat look, "Go bug someone else."

Janus moved his hand to his waist to check his Pokenav for the time, only to find it wasn't there anymore. He cursed under his breath.

"Crap, that's right, I left it back in the pokecenter..." Janus scratched his head in agitation at his mistake before shaking his head, "Oh well...not like it'd have been much help to me right now."

He sighed again before moving over to the wall of rock, beginning his slow ascent up the side of the mountain. Haunter watched him begin climbing before moving up beside him making frantic hand gestures trying to stop him from going.

"Hey get out of my face, Haunter, I need to get over this mountain," Janus replied trying to shove the ghost type away from his face.

"Haunt! Haunter haunt!" It pleaded. It flapped it hands and did its best impersonation of a bird squawking out loudly. Blaze gave Janus a worried look, but the trainer merely brushed it off.

"I know there's something dangerous up there, but I can't stop because of it now," He grunted as he found his foot holds and pulled himself up the mountain little by little. Haunter stared after him, frowning deeply and watched the boy continue his climb.

"Haunter...haun?" It looked at Blaze curiously. The dragon looked back at the ghost, before closing its eyes and sighing deeply, begrudgingly nodding before he flapped his wings moving up and perching at the next out cropping, watching his trainer carefully and worriedly. Haunter hovered next to the dragon before looking back up at the mountain peak where a flash of lightning cracked across the sky forebodingly. It looked back down at the trainer thoughtfully wondering to itself, just what made the boy push forwards like he was.

* * *

Rainy picked up the pokenav on the ground of the pokecenter and looked at it thoughtfully for a moment.

"Well...so much for tracking him by his pokenav," MC muttered to himself scratching the back of his head. He set the pokecenter as his log on point for next time and sighed deeply.

"Well at least it show's that he was here right?" Rainy offered with a smile, "We can tell Namegi about this little hiccup tomorrow, right?"

MC nodded rubbing his face tiredly.

"You're right, no use worrying about it now. I just thought our little venture would be solved quickly, guess I was wrong though," He looked at Rainy, "I'll just have to talk with you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sorry to leave so soon MC," She waved at him and smiled, "I'll catch you tomorrow night for sure though. Hope work goes well for you."

She waved at him again before she started to glow, her form freezing and focusing into a beam of light that shrank back into nothingness. MC sighed and looked around the deserted center thoughtfully. He quietly activated his own logout, eager to be out of the eerily dark and silent pokecenter.


	17. Ch 13: Yellow Thunder

**A/N:** Hello again, another week another late update on Thrusday. So here's what I'm going to do. Expect your new chapters up Saturdays, I have a little more time and don't have to worry about school Saturday. Starting next weekend of course. You'll have to wait a little longer, but I'll drop a mini update of the Owners Manual to tide you all over. :) Until then, enjoy the ficlet and have a great day.

**Chapter 13: Yellow Lightning**

Cassie sighed deeply and rubbed at her eyes a little, leaning back on her hands. She'd just finished recanting her story to the administrator known as Flex, who was looking off frowning deeply.

"Honestly, your story sounds a little stretched," Flex looked back at her thoughtfully, "But I can't see why you'd go through the lengths of making up something like that."

"I know it sounds really out of synch, and the memory blank between entering Plushtra and waking up in that ruined city, but you have to understand, I don't know what happened," she looked down. Flex stood up and dusted the seat of his pants off.

"You're sure this guy, Janus, he's got the same memory lapse that you do?" He folded his arms looking down at her, "And that he can't log out either?"

Cassie nodded.

"Do you know where he is right now?"

"Last time I checked my buddy list, it labeled him as being in Imayou," She looked at Suicune who seemed to be patiently sitting by, looking off over the ocean thoughtfully. Flex frowned again and folded his hands behind his head.

"Well that's just the icing on the cake..." He muttered, "Imayou's supposed to be a dead zone of activity, if there's a player on that island when we reset the server, who knows what'll happen."

"What do you mean?" Cassie asked blinking up at him.

"Headquarters was going to reset the servers. We were sent in to make sure no players managed to avoid the auto-logout and to catch the hackers responsible for this mess if possible," he shook his head, "But I'm starting to wonder if there are other players like you."

Cassie felt herself go pale. Other players trapped like she was? That wasn't a thought she cared to entertain.

"When our leads arrive, I'll talk to them about your story and see what we can do, maybe we can stop the reset long enough to figure out what the heck is happening," Flex offered her a smile. Just what exactly was happening in this world? A player who couldn't log out that was labeled high priority, legendaries wandering the world, and headquarters eerie silence about all of it. Sure he'd been fed the same story as the others, "just a glitch, probably hackers," but this wasn't just some simple glitch that could be reset with the touch of a button. He could feel his jaw tighten slightly the more he thought about it. It just wasn't sitting right with him.

* * *

Janus pulled himself up over the final ledge, and found himself on a small mesa at the top of the mountain. The wind was whipping about him violently and threatened to blow him right back over the edge if it wasn't for Blaze standing behind him.

"Phew, now that was a work out," he laughed a little and rubbed the feeling back into his arms. Blaze grunted in response. He looked down to find Haunter huddling behind his legs and looking at the sky worriedly.

"You know, I'm almost curious as to why you're so adamant about sticking around us," he muttered. Lightning roared over head, screeching down towards the ground before arcing back up into the clouds. The noise was so loud the three of them had to cover their ears, and even then it didn't stop the noise from breaking the air around them. Haunter cowered further behind Janus legs.

"Hey no need to be so frightened," Janus smiled comfortingly. Lightning broke the clouds again and thunder shattered the air around them, striking the ground this time. Janus winced and covered his ears protectively again. When the noise faded he uncovered his head and sighed deeply.

"Okay Blaze, I think it's time for you to go back into your ball," he smiled at the dragon type and pat its nose softly, "Can't risk you getting hurt pal."

Blaze nodded as it vanished in a flash of red light and spilled back into its pokeball. Janus sighed deeply and wrapped his arms around himself tightly as he slowly began to tread over the mesa towards the other side, Haunter following closely behind him.

"You know, you should probably head back down Haunter," he looked at the pokemon. The purple ghost simply stared at him and shook its head sticking by his legs as he walked. Janus smiled a little before continuing his trek to the other side. Lightning split the sky again, bathing them in a bright light and blinding Janus momentarily. His eyes and ears numb from the shock he could barely make out a yellow blur fast approaching him from the sky. As luck would have it he tripped over his own feet, dodging the strike from his aerial assailant.

He let out a cry and looked up with wide eyes, staring at an angry Zapdos that sparking dangerously.

"I retract my earlier statement, Haunter," Janus half yelped as Zapdos reared back its head a bolt of thunder spearing through the air for him. He frantically snagged a ball off his waist and tossed it into the air.

"Titan!" An orange blur formed from the red light and shot in front of its trainer, bone club acting as a lightning rod, redirecting the bolt back into the ground. Janus breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the sky, he mentally berated himself for not foreseeing this earlier.

"Aren't I just the most perceptive one lately," he muttered getting back to his feet and taking up his position behind the Marowak, "This isn't going to be our usual cake walk Titan."

The pokemon looked over its shoulder and gave him a confident thumbs-up with its free paw. Janus chuckled and smirked in response.

"I knew you'd say that."

* * *

"Suicune?" Cassie looked over at the pokemon with a worried frown, "What happened to Latias."

Suicune looked at the young girl for a moment before looking off to the building she'd arrived from.

(Last I saw, she was in that building, unconscious.) Suicune looked back out over the ocean. (I think she was injured by the HyperBeam from Kyogre and Groudon, she just needs rest right now.)

Cassie looked at the building and pulled open her satchel, sifting through its pouches for a moment before pulling out a small bottle. She got back to her feet and started towards the building.

"H-hey! Wait, Cassie, you can't leave," Flex called out rushing after her. He reached out to grab her wrist, but was blocked by Suicune, who bared her fangs at him causing him to stumble back a step.

"Don't worry, I just need to check on my friend," Cassie called out over her shoulder before bumping head long into Gerad. He grabbed her wrist and glowered down at her.

"Where do you think you're going?" He hissed shoving her backwards. Cassie glared at him.

"I'm going to help my friend, Suicune says she's in that building over there," She replied, rubbing her wrist a little. Suicune came up beside her and glared back at Gerad.

"Yeah right, you're probably just going to run away," Gerad growled in his throat, his eyes straying to the Suicune next to the girl. Flex moved up next to them.

"Let's all just calm down here," he said holding his hands up disarmingly, "Cassie's not trying to cause trouble Gerad."

"Not from where I'm standing. She's playing you for a fool Flex," Gerad glared at the other administrator.

"Look, there's no problem in listening to a person's story, Gerad!" He shouted. Cassie backed up several steps to get out of the way of the two of them, hoping to sneak away into the building. She was three steps away from them when she bumped into something sturdy, turning to find herself chest high to a Nidoking.

(Excuse me.) It grunted down at her. She looked down next to the behemoth when she heard the clearing of a throat. A man in a blue jump suit stood looking at them, arms folded and glaring heavily at the two admins who had finally stopped arguing.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important," he hissed at them.

"Ease up Carver," a girl next to him muttered, shoving her hands into her pockets. Carver flashed the other a glare before his eyes fell onto Cassie and Suicune.

"So this must be our infamous hacker," he sniffed and waved a hand, "Good work you two, you can go now."

"Sir, I was hoping we could talk to you, there seems to be more to this than we think," Flex said stepping forwards. Carver looked back at him then shrugged.

"Look, FlexiFlesh," he stepped forwards, "If I were you, I'd forget about it. We're taking care of the problems from here on out."

"Hey you can't just cut us out of this like we didn't do anything!" Gerad shouted. Carver frowned.

"I can't be bothered with the lowly duties of you low enders, just do your job and make sure the area is clear."

"This is a crock of bull!" Gerad stamped his foot, "We go through all this mess, just to have you tell us to leave? I want some answers here! Why can't we just delete her?"

"That's none of your concern, now kindly back down before I have you written up for disobeying orders from a superior admin," Carver said cooly. He turned his back to them. While the administrators were occupied with each other Cassie and Suicune slowly began to creep away from them.

"Sir, what's going to happen to Cassie?" He asked.

"Who? Oh right, the girl," he waved a hand, "That's for us to decide upon our return to headquarters."

"But you can't just keep us all in the dark about this!"

"What does it matter? You have a job to do, and that's to turn around and follow orders like good little toy soldiers," Carver waved a hand at them, "DarkFyre grab the girl, delete the Suicune and lets get out of here."

"No can do," DarkFyre replied, stretching a little before shoving her hands into her pockets. Carver whirled on her.

"What? If I might ask, why not!?" He shouted at her. She shrugged in response.

"Cause she walked off while you were all arguing."

"Why didn't you stop her?! She could be anywhere by now!"

"You didn't say please," She responded finding her nails much more interesting to examine.

Carver tugged at his hair and pointed at Gerad and Flex.

"You two scour the city! She couldn't have gotten far."

Gerad and Flex grunted before turning and starting to walk away.

"This is all your fault Flex, shoulda just let me delete her."

"Bite me Gerad."

Carver pointed at DarkFyre with a heavy glare.

"You stay here and don't' do anything! If she happens to come this way again, catch her," Carver started to walk away, pausing to look over his shoulder at her, begrudgingly, "Please."

DarkFyre smirked lightly to herself at that folding her hands behind her head as Carver and his Nidoking walked off.

Not too far away at all in fact, Cassie and Suicune were kneeling next to Latias, whom Cassie was gently applying the hyper potion to.

"I don't think the admin are going to be much help Suicune," She sighed softly. Suicune looked back at her.

(I could have told you that Cassie.) She muttered laying down next to her and watching her work carefully.

"I think the company is more worried about its reputation than it is about what's happening to its players," she sighed softly resting Latias head in her lap and petting the pokemons head softly.

"That's a pretty accurate assumption," a voice said from the entrance. Cassie looked over to see the admin girl looking around the empty building thoughtfully. Suicune tensed a little as did Cassie.

"Relax, I don't really feel like catching you right now," Darkfyre smirked lightly, nodding towards the pokemon in her lap, "Besides, you look like you've got your hands full."

Cassie relaxed a little, but Suicune kept her guard up.

"I'm sorry for running off, but I was worried about Latias," Cassie looked down at the pokemon.

"Commendable," Darkfyre nodded a little, "Silly to worry about a bunch of ones and zeros though, don't you think?"

"They're more than that!" Cassie shouted defensively before sighing deeply and frowning, "They have feelings and thoughts of their own. Before I got stuck here, I didn't really think much beyond the idea that this place was just a game, sure I treated my team with respect and cared about them, but I always knew it was just a game. After gaining the ability to understand them, it's like my whole perspective of this world has changed."

"Well aren't you the little enlightened one?" DarkFyre stretched and leaned against a wall looking at her thoughtfully, "You didn't release them, did you?"

Cassie looked in surprise at DarkFyre.

"No, not at all, they actually found us," She sighed and looked down sadly, "Latios and Latias wanted to help us. Suicune, was pretty much just along for the ride."

"Sounds like quite the adventure," DarkFyres eyes sparkled with interest as she smiled at the other girl, "What do you plan on doing now?"

"I'm going to see if I can find Janus, he's over in the Imayou server, we may have just met, but if we work together I'm sure we can find a way to get out of here," She nodded with determination. DarkFyre nodded several times before pushing away from the wall.

"Well lets' get going then," She said, a broad excited smile plastered on her face. Cassie did a double take.

"Excuse me?" She blurted incredulously. DarkFyre sighed.

"What do I gotta spell it out for you?" She rolled her eyes, "Look, I'll be honest, your little escapade into the unknown against insurmountable odds, sounds exciting, and I'm bored. So wake up big red there and lets' get outta here."

"But...you're an admin!" Cassie leaned away slightly confused over the decision that'd just been made for her.

"Yeah and? It's a boring job full of talking and talking and more talking, if I'd known that's what I was getting myself into, I'd have declined the offer to join them," she moved over to the girl, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her trench coat, "So lets get going before Carver gets back."

Cassie looked over at Suicune for advice only to find the pokemon smiling coyly.

(Oh, I like this one.) She said (I say we go.)

"Well, if Suicune says okay, I guess...I say it's okay too."

* * *

"Titan, IceBeam!" Janus called out pointing at Zapdos. The bird screeched loudly, electricity crackling in front of its body forming a wall of dancing light. Titan reared his head back and opened his mouth loosing a frigid beam at the bird. The beam of ice slammed into the wall partially dissipating before it slammed into Zapdos. The bird shook the ice off its body and turned in the air, screeching noisily as it bore down again, this time with a different target in mind.

Janus stared up at it with wide eyes before Haunter shoved the boy out of the way, the attack passing harmlessly over the ghost-type as it ducked.

"Thanks Haunter," he looked at Titan again, "Focus yourself, Titan! Let's get that flying ball of lightning grounded once and for all!"

Titan nodded taking a deep breath, his body beginning to glow and pulse with a soft light as the ground shook under his feet, small pebbles lifting up off the ground before exploding away from him sharply as he focused himself. Zapdos turned in the air its beak gleaming brightly as it dove down at them again. Janus stood up again, his jaw clenching tightly in anticipation, they had to time it right so they wouldn't miss.

"Now Titan!" He shouted. Titan shook his head sharply as Zapdos swooped down overhead, pegging Titan with incredible speed and sending the pokemon flying backwards. Janus ran to his injured friend.

"Titan, are you alright?" He asked helping the pokemon back to its feet. It pushed Janus away and glared daggers at the Zapdos, its face a mask of determination.

"What were you thinking, you had him right where you wanted him," Janus frowned at the pokemon. It looked back at him and shook his head again. Janus stared at it in confusion. The bird in the sky turned in the air again, spying Janus open for attack its body charged with electricity, the energy in the clouds pulling down into the birds' wings as its body sparked dangerously. Titan let out a cry as it reared its head back and took the opportunity in its own paws, shooting out another beam of ice for the Zapdos. The wall of electricity condensed around Zapdos blocking the attack completely.

Zapdos let out a cry of its own, sending a bolt of thunder down for Janus this time. Janus let out a cry as the lightning arced for him. Titan leapt in the way holding his bone club up to absorb the attack again, grounding it once more, the process leaving him slightly scorched and smoking.

"Titan! Its attacks are getting too strong, you actually took damage from that one," Janus said worriedly as he came up beside the pokemon. Titan pushed him away again and gave him a look of determination. Haunter tugged at Janus arm, trying to pull the boy further away from the conflict.

Titan stood his ground again, his body glowing as it began to focus once more. Zapdos, seeing the effectiveness of its last attack began charging up in kind, the wall of electric light around it sucking up into its wings as well as its body searched for more power. Titan took another deep breath steadying itself for the next attack. Zapdos cried out, its' body a glow as the energy within was released up into the sky causing it to darken momentarily and rumble ominously. A moment later a bolt of thundering lightning ripped form the clouds targeted right for Titan.

The pokemon let out a cry as the bolt of lightning struck it, though it still stood tall, unleashing its own attack against Zapdos, determined to win the battle. The beam of ice slammed into the bird, coating its body in ice, freezing it in the sky and turning it into a block of ice that fell rapidly from its high perch towards the ground. Titan stood stock still for a moment after the lightning faded around him. He took a weak step around to face his trainer, giving him a confident thumbs-up again, before he started to fall forwards. Janus recalled the pokemon before it even hit the floor, a weak smile playing across his face.

"Good job, Titan," he hugged the ball for a moment before putting it back at his waist, "I'll get you healed up the second I can."

A heavy thud from nearby caught his attention. Looking up he saw the frozen Zapdos, angrily glaring out of the ice towards the tower rising up in the distance. Janus followed its gaze for a moment, looking at the tower thoughtfully before looking back at frozen flying embodiment of lightning. After a moment, he smirked and tossed his hand out, a glittering bolt of purple and black flying from his hand, solidifying into a pokeball as it neared Zapdos.

"Master Ball, go!" He shouted. The ball struck the pokemon, opening up and swallowing it up in a flash of purple light. The ball hit the ground and rocked several times before going still, a soft ring echoing in the air. He walked over and picked up the pokeball, smiling broadly to himself for the brief moment it was in his hands before the ball teleported away to his personal box.

"One down..."


	18. Ch 14: Dangerous Territory

**A/N: **Hey all! An hour late and no filler like I promised on Wednesday, sorry about that. Had midterms this week and they definitely kept me busy. :\ Enjoy this new chapter, and as always. Read for enjoyment, and review at your leisure. See you next Saturday readers. :)

**Chapter 14: Dangerous Territory**

Janus was slumped against a rock on the mesa; now that Zapdos was gone the sky had become calm. He sighed and stared at his hands thoughtfully. He was drained from his excursion.

"What was the administration thinking?" He closed his eyes thoughtfully. In front of him Haunter floated and stared openly. It watched him carefully and curiously, every once in a while shifting to the left or right before settling back down to look at him.

"What is it Haunter?" He looked back at it finally, a smile creeping across his face, "Thank you for the save by the way."

Haunter blinked and looked off at the tower, pointing at it and looking back at Janus.

"Yeah, that's where I'm going," He smiled at the ghost, who was giving him a terribly confused expression as if to ask him why. Janus just laughed and shrugged.

"Maybe for some answers, or maybe I'm just a natural born thrill seeker," He shrugged again, "Whatever my reasons being, I know that I have to go to that tower. Call it a trainers' hunch, but I think there's adventure and answers to be found there."

Haunter rolled its eyes and floated off a ways from Janus. Janus watched the creature for a moment then smirked.

"What about you Haunter, why do you stick so close to me?" Janus watched the ghost curiously, "I'm not your trainer. I never caught you."

Haunter shook its head and poked Janus in the chest several times. Janus stared at the ghost type after the action. Haunter sighed in frustration.

"What're you saying? That I am your trainer?" He lifted an eyebrow curiously. Haunter nodded vigorously.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Haunter laughed at him and grinned broadly, "How can I be your trainer?"

Haunter stared at him and shrugged helplessly before giving him a confident smile accompanied by a thumbs-up.

"You don't know why, you're just that sure of it?" Janus scratched his head before shrugging helplessly in kind. After a moment he laughed.

"Well seems I have another mouth to feed huh?" Janus smiled at Haunter. The pokemon grinned even wider at him before laughing and turning several times around his head happily. Janus smiled and closed his eyes, stifling another yawn.

"No more Dream Eating, Haunter," Janus chuckled and wagged a finger tiredly at the pokemon, "At least not for the next few hours."

* * *

Latias felt like she'd been hit by a Rhyhorn running at the speed of sound. She opened her eyes lazily and stared about. What greeted her were two familiar and friendly faces.

"Hey there, Latias, how're you feeling?" Cassie said with a smile. Latias closed her eyes tightly.

(Hurt...) She grunted and lifted herself up hovering an inch above the ground before looking at Cassie, (Are you alright?)

"Nothing I can't deal with," Cassie smiled, "Just a little tired."

(Good. Seki?) Latias stared at Suicune blankly (When did you evolve?)

(At the right time it would seem) Suicune replied before moving towards the entrance. She stopped to look at DarkFyre intently for a moment before moving passed her out of the building.

Latias blinked curiously at the unfamiliar person.

(Who is that Cassie?) She asked in a whisper. Cassie had to giggle a little.

"That's DarkFyre, she's going to help us get out of here Latias," Cassie smiled brightly.

"No offense, but I think it's a little conspicuous to be walking about with a Latias? Don't you think we should kind of...just leave it here?" The girl asked. Cassie rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry about her, she can take care of herself," She looked back at the administrator, "What I wanna know is how you plan to smuggle us out of the city...doesn't exactly seem like an easy task"

DarkFyre laughed and grinned at her brightly.

"Of course it's easy, but do we want the easy way, or the fun way?" She smirked lightly. Suicune walked back into the building in a low crouch.

(Coast is clear, if we're going to get out of here, now would be the best time.) She said. Cassie nodded.

"Suicune says the coast is clear," she translated. DarkFyre grinned at her and nodded.

"Let's go then, we'll get you to your friend," She smiled brightly. Cassie stood up and smiled at Latias.

"C'mon Latias," She smiled softly at the pokemon as it was engulfed in a bright light for a moment. When the light faded, a young girl stood there smiling at them. Cassie took her hand and led her carefully towards the entrance. DarkFyre let out a low whistle.

"My my, no wonder you were able to avoid the administration for so long," She grinned widely, "This just keeps getting better and better."

* * *

Mr. Espen was pacing outside the door to his sons hospital room, nervously awaiting him. Emilio shook his head as he silently mused to himself; this was always the part of the job that was the hardest. The PET and EEG had less than acceptable results. Outwardly the child even scored low on the Glasgow Coma Scale, but the other tests only solidified what he already knew while adding to a steadily growing list of questions. He moved around the corner with determination and a frown. He had to break it carefully to them.

"Mr. Espen?" He said as he came up to the man. The worried father looked up at the doctor as he approached.

"What is it Dr. Eiu, did you get the results back already?" He asked. Mr. Espen searched the other mans face carefully, his expression falling slightly when he saw the deep frown the doctor wore as he looked over the results.

"I'm sorry Mr. Espen, I'm afraid your son is in a coma," Emilio looked at the window and stared at the boy lying in the hospital bed. Mr. Espen searched for words before his shoulders sank.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" He asked weakly.

"For now all we can do is wait. He's still able to breath on his own, which in and of itself is a miracle, but the EEG and PET showed that whatever neural activity he has is slowly beginning to shut down, if he doesn't wake up soon, chances are we're going to have to put him into the critical care ward," Emilio sighed deeply, "I'm deeply sorry, Mr. Espen, but for now the best thing you can do is hope."

Mr. Espen rubbed his forehead deeply and tried to think. He seemed to be fighting down the flood of emotions that were trying to surface, but they were all evident on his face. One deep shaking breath later he opened his eyes and looked at Emilio with pleading eyes. The doctor sighed and looked back at the charts.

"I can promise you this, Mr. Espen, I will do whatever I can for your son. I've already begun an investigation into the cause. If we can find out the direct cause of your sons coma, we might be able to find a way to repair the damage," He tried to muster a smile, "Until then, why don't you and your wife go home, it's late and you both look like you could use some rest."

Mr. Espen nodded and rubbed at his eyes.

"R-right...thank you Dr. Eiu, can you give us little while longer though?" Mr. Espen's voice sounded weaker than it had earlier. Emilio managed the smile that time and nodded.

"Take all the time you need, I'll inform the nurse," Emilio said as he watched Mr. Espen walk back into the room. He stood a moment longer to see the man begin explaining to his wife before turning and walking back down the hall shaking his head. He'd just made a promise for a difficult task.

* * *

DarkFyre peered around the corner of the building carefully before motioning with her hand to the others when she was sure the coast was clear. The three behind her turned the corner and started to run for the next patch of cover.

"I'm curious, Cassie, just how long have you been in game now anyways?" DarkFyre asked thoughtfully. Cassie looked at her for a moment before looking up and closing her eyes thoughtfully.

"Well...I think most of the day by this point," She looked back at the other girl, "Why do you ask?"

DarkFyre looked at her carefully around the next corner.

"Have you been feeling hungry at all lately? Thirsty? Maybe even the need to use a bathroom?" she asked before motioning again for them to proceed. Cassie paused to think about that before moving along towards the exit of the city.

"I hadn't thought about that honestly, but no, I haven't," She felt her face turn into a frown. DarkFyre nodded slightly to herself, glancing back at the girl.

"Very strange, wouldn't you say?" She watched her carefully for a moment before grinning, "Kind of exciting too, when you come to think about it. You're a real mystery?"

Cassie looked at her appalled.

"Yeah it's real exciting not knowing what the hells going on in the real world while I'm stuck in here running for my life from administrators who, from what I've gathered, can't decide weither to help me, delete me, or interrogate me about events that I have no information about," She glared at the other girl, "Yeah I'm real lucky to be such a freaking mystery!"

"You get the rare privilege to live out every fans dream of having an adventure where you're placed in danger against insurmountable odds, fighting for your life and learning a secret or two, all the while making hundreds of friends along the way," A smirk slid across the administrators face, "If you ask me I don't think you're looking at this from a genre savvy point of view."

Cassie couldn't help but grit her teeth to stop herself from biting the girls head off. She took a deep breath and sighed. Laughter came from Suicune and Latias beside her and she flashed the pokemon a glare in kind.

"Fat lot of help you two are," she hissed at the two of them. DarkFyre looked back at Cassie and smiled a little softer.

"Look Cass, I'm just saying, you have it rough, but don't let it get to you, try to find your silver lining. If you really are in a hopeless situation, then that just means you have to try all the harder to not give up, if not for you, at least do it for your friends, they're counting on you to find your way home after all," The administrator gave her a pat on the shoulder and gave her a thumbs up, "Now c'mon, we've got a lot of ground to cover to get you over onto Imayou."

Cassie stopped walking and stared after DarkFyre, and felt herself smile despite her feelings a moment ago.

"Thanks DarkFyre...I'm sorry I snapped at you," She started after her again, "Where exactly are we going anyways?"

"Now if I told you that, it'd ruin the surprise," She smirked over her shoulder and started running again. Cassie sighed as her companions soon followed suit with her closing in from behind, but she was smiling again, and she felt her determination swelling up inside of her.

* * *

Shidanki felt herself peel back into existence in Imayou. She shuddered a little and sighed deeply and stared around the area in front of her. A smirk slid across her face for a moment before she pulled off her sunglasses and pocketed them.

"Ah Plushtra, great to be back," She sighed and put her hands on her hips, shoving over a broken signpost and sighing deeply. After a moment she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pokeball.

"C'mon out Porygon," she smiled, as the digital pokemon spilled out of the ball and looked up at her expectantly, "Hey hun, we have some work to do, I need you to find something for me."

She smirked lightly as the pokemon began moving through the air over the wrecked buildings. Its eyes sparkled from time to time and it'd dip down into the wreckage. She nodded and pulled up a second pokeball.

"Laplace, I need your help too," The Xatu popped out of the ball and stood stoicly looking away from its trainer, "Show me what happened here."

The pokemon looked back at her for a moment then turned away from her completely. Shidanki sighed sharply and folded her arms, tapping her foot and glaring at the pokemon.

"Oh come on. That's not fair, I need you be fair," She frowned, "I need the recorded data."

The pokemon looked back at her and shook its head before moving back into the pokeball itself. Shidanki growled and tugged at her hair.

"Fine! You know what? I didn't want your help anyways!" She folded her arms again and seethed silently. After a moment her shoulders sagged and she rubbed at her eyes tiredly.

"Hmm, seems like your pokemon don't listen to you, interesting," a voice said from behind her. Shidanki whirled around sharply and stared with wide eyes.

"Namegi!?" She asked taking a step away from the trainer standing behind her. A young man in his teens wearing a baseball cap, tattered looking jeans, and a heavy brown jacket.

"HAH!" He laughed and smirked at her, "So you do know this alt, I was hoping you wouldn't, but that just tells me everything I need to know, now doesn't it?"

"How'd you know I'd be here?" She stared into the empty eyes of the other trainer.

"Please, you didn't honestly think you could mask your presence from me did you?" He scoffed and pushed the lip of his hat up, grinning widely, "I thought you might go snooping around in places you didn't belong, that's why I set up connection tracer. Now, I know I could start by asking you a few questions, but that'd just give you time to think of something...so..."

"You think I'm going to let you get away with all of this?" She grit her teeth and glared at the other, "I'm going to get my Circuit Breakers back from you!"

"Oh please, save the bravado," He shoved his hands into his pockets, "I've known who you were since you joined, and I've done some research this time, just in case you thought you'd try and stab me in the back. How are your kids doing Shidanki, I hear your daughter's having trouble with her math?"

Shidanki felt her face fall as she stared at him with eyes the size of dinner plates.

"There's that look again, it's that same look you gave me two years ago when I deleted you and took your place as leader of the Circuit Breakers," He smirked at her with those soulless eyes, "Don't worry, I'm not going to delete you this time."

Porygon chirped brightly and moved back to its trainers' side, smiling at her brightly.

"Ah, it looks like Porygon found what you were looking for...I have to admit, you're not bad at hacking Shidanki, you make some of the best search programs I've ever seen this side of the internet," He held out his hand, "Now give it to me."

A piece of glitching data spilled out of Porygon onto the ground in front of Shidanki. It seemed to be having trouble holding a shape, but it did try to maintain the spherical shape of a master ball. She reached down and picked it up, before tossing the ball up to Namegi. The boys face lit up as he laughed.

"That wasn't so hard was it?" He grinned and waved a hand, "I think I'll let you stay this time, you're useful Shidanki, and don't even think of crossing me again. Others might suffer for it."

He gave her one last laugh before he turned and walked away. Shidanki fell to her knees and rubbed at her temples. Porygon gave a small noise and leaned into her affectionately.

"Thanks pal, looks like my plan backfired though," she sighed deeply, "And I'm not the only one I have to worry about now."

There was a flash of light and Laplace was standing in front of her, looking down at her placidly.

"Laplace?" She blinked several times staring at the pokemon as it watched her carefully. After a moment it spread its wings and its eyes started to glow. Shidanki stared at her pokemon for a moment before a smile spread across her face.

"You know, maybe there really is more to you guys than just programming," She stood up, wiping at her eyes a little before putting her sunglasses back on, "And maybe this wasn't a wasted trip."

* * *

There was a click before the alarm on the nightstand awoke from its slumber, spewing out the weather and morning news. Kent's hand reached out from under his pillow and it searched around curiously for the button on the device that'd make it stop its incessant rambling before the words finally made sense to him.

"-and in a conference yesterday, Nintendo and Game Freak representative, Heinrick Bronson, had this to say about the recent victims and their link to their game," Kent sat up in bed and stared at the clock radio.

"We cannot confirm that the cause of victims' state is by the game. It's just that, a simple game. We have tested its functionality and the fail safes in place prevent any lasting damage from ever being directly transferred to the players. If a problem did occur from the game it would indicate that the device connecting players to the game had been tampered with, which violates the Terms of Service contract the players have with our compa-"

Kent turned the radio off and rubbed his eyes. He took a moment to look over at his computer, staring at it as it hummed softly and invitingly at him. After a moment he sighed and shook his head. Apparently Chia hadn't been lying about the mess

"Gonna be a long day..." He muttered as he started getting ready for school, "Hope you can hold out for the next seven hours Jason."


	19. Ch 15: Mended Conncetion

**A/N: **Hey there readers, my apologies for this being so many days late. My Spring Break proved to be my greatest distraction. XD; I think it's funny how I write more while I'm in school than when I'm not. Must be the busy environment...that and the library has no distractions at six in the morning. . Next chapter will be up on Saturday. Hope you look forwards to it. :) Oh and as always, read for your enjoyment, and review at your leisure.

**Chapter 15: Mended Connection**

A cold gust of wind brushed over Janus, causing him to shift uncomfortably in his sleep. Haunter seeing the boys' strange discomfort floated over and nervously shook him.

"Nnf, nodda school day," He muttered in his sleeping drunkenness, "Lee'me alone."

Haunter frowned and shook the boy again, a little stronger this time.

"What?" He asked opening his eyes and turning to look at the ghost with bleary eyes. He immediately shut them when sunlight flooded into his world and blinded him for a moment. He groaned and sat up with a sigh. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and squinted at Haunter as his eyes adjusted.

"What is it?" He blinked at Haunter for a moment then sighed deeply, "Is it bad that I was hoping to wake up in my own bed?"

Haunter gave the boy a pat on the back and offered him a large goofy smile, the boy laughed despite his disposition and smiled. With a shake of his head he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Well, nice to feel fully rested for once," He looked back out towards the edge of the mesa and walked over to it, looking down, "Long way down, huh?"

He continued to look over the edge, before his gaze slowly slid up to the tower in the distance that pierced the sky like a testament to the world around them. Now that he was closer, he could see it a little more clearly too, and the dawning realization made him frown.

"That's where Diesel City should be..." he pursed his lips and stared down at the landscape, tracing it with his eyes. The tower sat in a crater of land that appeared as if someone had reached down and pulled the it up from the very ground itself. Haunter looked at the boy in confusion and scratched its head trying to figure out how it could be where a city should be. Janus looked at Haunters perplexed expression and smiled.

"It's easy see?" He pointed at the silvery forest at the edge of the crater, "There's the Steel Forest, an artificial habitation created by Diesel for the Cognants to live in."

He felt a brief smile cross his lips.

"You know, Haunter, I can't remember if I ever caught a Cognant..." He closed his eyes thoughtfully and took a deep breath, "I don't even remember most of my journey through Imayou."

Haunter watched Janus for a moment as the boy bowed his head. Janus reached into his pocket and pulled out his trainer case, he popped it open and stared at the glimmering badges inside.

"I don't know what's worse...knowing what I don't remember, or knowing that there's still more I'm forgetting," He looked back at the tower and smirked a little, "Doesn't matter, I'll just have to keep forging ahead and make new memories until I can remember the old ones."

He snapped the case shut and put it away, then set about climbing down the side of the mountain.

* * *

DarkFyre watched with her emerald eyes as Cassie rested against Suicune and Latias. Once they had made it a safe distance away from the city and the admin, she suspected the adrenaline had finally eased up off the other girl, since she practically collapsed. That was six hours ago. DarkFyre had since logged on and off to take care of a few things herself. After a moment she felt eyes upon her and looked up to find Suicune staring at her.

"Well, good morning," she smirked playfully, "Did you keep an eye on your master for me?"

Suicune let out a snort and turned her head away from DarkFyre. That made the girl laugh, her eyes dancing playfully at the pokemon.

"Not one to be controlled, are you?" She continued to watch the legendary, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them, "You know I always wanted to see what your kind would be like in this world. I'd heard talks that you'd be in the next release, but it was like that with the previous updates too. I guess they didn't want to cause too much of a ruckus, since there's only supposed to be a limited number of your kind. Am I right?"

Suicune turned and looked at the administrator with scrutiny. After a moment the legendary beast laid its head back down next to Cassie, eyes slimming, but never shutting all the way. It was a clear warning from the beast to DarkFyre.

"Such loyalty from a master-less beast," DarkFyre smirked playfully. Suicune let out a sharp huff, kicking up dirt from the ground towards the administrator. She laughed softly, leaning back against one of the trees, looking off down the road.

"Yeah, I'm not one much for following someone else's orders either," She glanced back at Suicune, "Just not in our nature is it?"

Cassie shifted awake, her eyes opening slowly and lazily as she moved up into a sitting position.

"Morning sleepy head," DarkFyre smiled brightly. Cassie looked at the other girl, unable to hide disappointment on her face.

"Oh, hi," she looked down at the two pokemon next to her for a moment, "Sorry."

"For what?" DarkFyre looked at Cassie curiously.

"For falling asleep like that. I was just so exhausted," Cassie rubbed her eyes, standing up to stretch. Suicune and Latias stirred at the sudden absence of her warmth.

"Hey no worries, it gave me a chance to take care of my IRL stuff," DarkFyre shrugged and smiled broadly at her, "C'mon we should start making our way towards Meteor Falls."

"Meteor Falls?" Cassie looked curiously at DarkFyre, "Why Meteor Falls?"

"Because, that's where we'll find someone who'll help us," she replied, smiling brightly as she readjusted her pack. Cassie frowned thoughtfully for a moment and sighed, resigning herself to gathering her things, getting ready for their journey.

* * *

Shidanki sat on the ruined steps of a PokeMart, idly petting Porygon as it rested in her lap. Her eyebrows had knit themselves into a tricky frown as she stared at Laplace, who was doing his best to be a statue and pretend she wasn't there.

"So, MewTwo deleted them all, and Mew pieced them back together, I wonder why?" She sighed deeply. A sound off to the side caught her attention and she looked up as she watched someone log on above the remains of the PokeCenter. Once the person had formed completely, he let out a startled oath and slid down the rubble to the street below, landing unceremoniously in a cloud of dust.

"Well it looks like our guest has arrived," Porygon left her lap as she stood up and folded her arms. When the dust cleared she smirked a little at the figure still rubbing her sore end.

"Glad you could make it, Jet," She smirked lightly at the blue haired boy. Jet looked up at her and sighed deeply, standing up and dusting himself off.

"Yeah, honestly I almost didn't want to, but I'm worried about Jas-" he caught himself, stopping to readjust the name he was going to use, "Janus. Did you find anything?"

"Not a whole lot honestly," She spread her arms out wide, motioning to the city around them, "Except this."

Jet stopped to stare around himself, regarding his surroundings for the first time. He frowned and shook his head.

"Just where exactly is this?" He finally asked.

"This is Plushtra, or at least what's left of it," she sighed deeply. Jet looked back at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Care to explain?"

"Are you going to listen?" A smirk slid across her face as she looked at him over the rim of her sunglasses. Jet only glared at her.

"Well I'm here, aren't I?" He asked throwing his arms out wide, "You make it sound like I should listen to anything you have to say."

"That's because you need to hear it, alright? Now I'll admit I don't have the best track record, I'm a hacker, I tricked both of you, and I made your lives living hell in regards to the administration, but this is different. People are getting hurt and I'm at fault."

"Yeah I'm sure you're really sorry," Jet fixed a glare on her. After a moment he sighed deeply and looked off shaking his head, "But what choice do I have?"

"None really," Shidanki smirked a little, "You know I'm a hacker, but I'm actually part of a specific guild, you remember which?"

"Yeah you're the head of the Circuit Breakers, right?"

Shidanki shook her head and looked back at the boy.

"Not anymore Jet. Enigma took my position about two years ago, right after he was booted from the servers."

"Was it really him? How're you so sure?" Jet peered at her speculatively. Shidanki just rolled her eyes and sighed deeply.

"The problem with people like Enigma; is that they don't give up. He came in with what little remnants of his old group existed and made a hostile take over of my own guild. I resisted and he forcibly deleted me right out of my seat, next thing I knew my account was frozen and my IP banned."

"Serves you right," he watched her, "What's this have to do with what happened though?"

"Well I came back about a year and a half ago. I don't take people messing with me lightly. I have my pride after all," she took off her sunglasses and hooked them on the collar of her shirt, "I was keeping tabs on him and what he was doing, earlier this week I hacked into his system and found a few interesting files. One of which was a box listing."

"Box listing? What do you mean?" Jet frowned a little, he didn't exactly like where this conversation was heading.

"A box as in what you use to store your pokemon. Unfortunately, it was a jumble of encryptions, and I wasn't exactly in the mood to break through them all. So I just did the next best thing and well..." she trailed off and looked at the city around her. Jet watched and waited for her finish, before realization dawned on him. In that instant she would have sworn his eyes would have popped out of his skull.

"You opened it? In game!?" Jet was flabbergasted. He paced a few times in place trying to form words before finally giving up and just outright gawking at her.

"I'm sorry, alright? It was the easiest way to open the file without taking days to decrypt it by hand," She tugged at her hair, "I was just so furious, I wanted something I could pin on him, something I could use to get him caught again. The box opened, and chaos ensued. The listing held all the legendaries, it overloaded the system, and they broke loose."

"So it really is your fault that this happened...it's your fault that Jason's in a coma right now!" He pointed at her accusingly.

"In the roundabout way yes, but there are more important things than laying blame right now," Shidanki hissed back at him, "I need your help to find him."

"What do you mean find him!? He's in a coma, in a hospital bed!"

"Jason, yes, but not Janus!" Those words stopped Jet cold and he looked at her with some confusion, "I don't know what happened to him Jet, but he's still here, and he's still online."

"How do you know that?" Jet asked. Shidanki looked him dead in the eyes, the lightning bolt shaped pupils she bore burrowing in and making him uneasy.

"I pieced the residual data that was in this area back together and had Laplace replay the event for me," She nodded to the pokemon that was still standing there like a living statue of data. When Jet turned to look at it, the pokemons' head turned and its gaze met his.

"A program you wrote?" Jet finally asked.

"Sort of...Laplace was one of the programs I lifted from Enigma," She looked at the pokemon almost proudly, "It wasn't really complete when I found it, but after a year of coding I finished it. It's like a magic camera, able to relive a moment in digital space and replay it for us as if we were there. There was another subroutine that I found out about later on, but I honestly blame the merging with the emotions programming for that."

"So, he can show me what happened then?" Jet kept his eyes locked with the pokemons. Shidanki merely smirked at him.

"In a word, yes, but it's a bit disorienting the first time," She nodded slightly as the pokemon opened its wings wide, and its eyes began to glow brightly. A bright flash of light filled their vision. When the light finally faded from their vision, what stood before them was a bustling town full of people and pokemon.

* * *

Janus let out a cry as he slid down, digging his fingers into the rocky face of the cliff to stop his quick descent. His fingers burned from being dragged against the hard rocky surface and he was getting a headache from mentally kicking himself.

"You know, maybe I should have started climbing when I was more awake, Haunter," He grunted and slid a little more, wincing as it rubbed his fingers raw, "Have I mentioned I hate how real this game can be sometimes?"

Haunter swirled around him worriedly.

"Yeah, I should have had Blaze come out to help me I know..." He let out a grunt as he did his best to make it to the next outcropping without falling. Haunter kept close by in case the boy needed his help. When Janus reached the small ledge he fell back onto his rear-end and looked at his hands, rubbing the feeling back into them gently. He looked up at Haunter who kept looking at him worriedly.

"Hey no worries, I can handle this," He stretched, "Maybe I should get Blaze out huh?"

Haunter nodded enthusiastically. Janus laughed softly and pulled up Blaze's pokeball.

"Hey, c'mon out Blaze~" He tossed the ball next to himself, and the dragon spilled out with a joyful roar as it stretched his wings, "Sorry I didn't call you our sooner pal."

Blaze looked down at Janus and nudged him. The boy laughed softly and reached up, rubbing the dragon snout softly with a smile.

"Hey, no worries now, I'm just a little tired," He smiled weakly at the dragon as he gave him an affectionate rub. Blaze smiled at his trainer and looked down over the ledge. After a moment he looked over his shoulder back at Janus and motioned for him to get on his back. Janus smiled and crawled up onto his back and motioned for Haunter to follow them.

"Alright Blaze," He, pat the dragons neck then pointed ahead, "On to Diesel, Blaze."

Blaze roared in response, a burst of flames leaving its mouth before it spread its wings wider before taking off over the edge of the cliff, flying off towards the tower. Haunter watched them for a moment, its gaze switching back to the tower. With another look back at the boy and his dragon, it took off after them.


End file.
